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Posted by Rick Schofield on 13:39:43 02/20/11
There were 27 birders for this holiday weekend Saturday morning walk on an absolutely beautiful day. The group walked the perimeter of the first impoundment where, among other things, we had an American Bittern that was posed nicely for us and a female Snail Kite perched on a short sapling.
The group then headed a short distance south to catch a glimpse of the Great Horned Owl. They then headed back to the parking lot but I went even further south to check on the Limpkin family and the Red-shouldered Hawks that have been acting as if they were about to nest again this year.
As for the Red-shoulders -- they were, indeed, exhibiting mating behavior by calling to each other, soaring and diving, and finally perching side-by-side in the top of a cypress (today's photo-of-the-day). I expect nest reconstruction to begin shortly (if it hasn't already).
As for the Limpkin family -- there are 5 chicks (not 4 as I reported earlier) but, sadly, one has a severely malformed beak and will surely not make it. They are currently hanging out in the same general area where the Red-shoulders have their nest from last year which is also in the same area as a humongous alligator and his mate. (I have not seen any of their babies but there may be some). I'm surprised that the baby Limpkins are all still with us!
On my way back to the parking lot a huge flock of American Robins descended into a group of trees, flitted around for a bit, and then took off -- north, of course.
Rick
Location: Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail
Observation date: 2/19/11
Notes: Weekly Saturday morning birdwalk, Marsh Trail, Loxahatchee NWR, Boynton Beach, Florida. 27 birders. Pat Canning, leader.
Number of species: 58
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Green-winged Teal
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Snail Kite
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Kestrel
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Mourning Dove
Nanday Parakeet
Great Horned Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
House Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
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