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Posted by Rick Schofield on 14:49:18 04/21/11
The penultimate walk of the 2010-2011 season almost brought in a royal straight flush of "Herons, Egrets and Allies" as it is categorized on the Loxahatchee checklist but we came up a tiny bit short. While several Least Bitterns were spotted the day before, we could not flush one. Nor could we turn a Great or Cattle Egret into a Snowy (they've been scarce this year). But we did have an American Bittern on the fly, dozens of Green Herons, all of the other herons, and both Night-Herons. It is very unusual to find the Yellow-crowned at Loxahatchee but Beth found an immature perched in a tree near the Pavilion.
Overhead we had a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-ducks which circled around before some landed in the reeds, two separate pairs of Mottled Ducks, two pass-overs of a pair of Northern Harriers, two Red-shouldered Hawks, and a single Merlin.
The Killdeer have returned after about a month's absence along with three Lesser Yellowlegs. But no sighting of the Sora. It is either secreted away on its First-for-Florida nest or has finally succumbed to Mother Nature's call and returned to the Great North where all good Sora go to breed. ;)
We had only one stinkin' warbler -- and that was heard, not seen -- "Witchety, witchety, wichety."
Today's photo is of Mrs. Mottled Duck and her brood of Ducklings. Look closely and you should find 14 young-uns.
Fred, our fearless leader, is migrating north with all the other Snowbirds so Becky, our resident local, will lead the last of the season walk next Wednesday.
Rick
Location: Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail
Observation date: 4/20/11
Notes: Weekly Wednesday morning birdwalk, Marsh Trail, Loxahatchee NWR, Boynton Beach, Florida. 8 birders. Fred Test leader.
Number of species: 39
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Mottled Duck
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Northern Harrier 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Merlin 1
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
Limpkin
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs 3
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Wren
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
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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