Posted by Bryant Roberts on October 30, 2001 at 22:05:19:
I arrived at Snake Bight at about noon today after an uneventful hike down Snake Bight Road.
This was the first time in some weeks that I’ve been there during a low incoming tide and I found
the largest numbers of shorebirds and waders that I’ve ever seen there. The Greater Flamingos
were also there but they were on the east side of the bight and blocked from view from the
boardwalk by a clump of Black Mangroves, and it was neccessary to get a few yards off the
boardwalk to see them. There was a dramatic moment when a Peregrine Falcon attacked a
juvenile Cattle Egret as was taking flight, striking it in the breast and knocking it into the stream
that passes under the boardwalk into the bight. The falcon didn’t return and the stunned egret
regained it’s footing and stumbled out of the water, I couldn’t see any blood on the egret and it
apparently recovered and was gone when I looked for it about ten minutes later. My new birds
for this fall for the Flamingo area were Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, and Ring-billed
Gull. This is the list of birds I could identify at Snake Bight, there were thousands of others
beyond my range.
Pied-billed Grebe -2
American White Pelican - 110
Brown Pelican - 8
Double-crested Cormorant - 2
Great Blue Heron - 12
Great Blue Heron (white morph) - 3
Great Egret - 75
Snowy Egret - 400
Little Blue Heron - 12
Tricolored Heron - 16
Reddish Egret - 4
Cattle Egret - 1
White Ibis - 100
Roseate Spoonbill - 50
Wood Stork - 2
Turkey Vulture - 4
Greater Flamingo - 18
Blue-winged Teal - 90
Northern Shoveler - 12 (FOS)
Green-winged Teal - 10 (FOS)
Osprey - 2
Bald Eagle - 1
Northern Harrier - 2
Peregrine Falcon - 1
American Coot - 30
Black-bellied Plover - 200
Black-necked Stilt - 140
American Avocet - 2
Greater Yellowlegs - 15
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1
Willet - 1,500
Spotted Sandpiper - 1
Marbled Godwit - 150
Red Knot - 2
Western Sandpiper - 2
Least Sandpiper - 30
“Peep” - 50
Dunlin - 200
Dowitcher (sp.) - 1,000
Laughing Gull - 200
Ring-billed Gull - 5 (FOS)
Gull-billed Tern - 12
Caspian Tern - 3
Royal Tern - 2
Forster’s Tern - 40
Black Skimmer - 250
Belted Kingfisher - 1
Barn Swallow - 3
Palm Warbler - 2
The hike up and down Snake Bight Road was not very productive for either species or
numbers of birds, fall migration may be winding down for woodland birds. My most
interesting sightings before reaching the bight didn’t envolve birds at all. Two Mangrove
Fox Squirrels crossed the highway in front of me a little over 3/4 miles south of the
Rowdy Bend Road trail entrance and some Blackbead trees were in heavy bloom along
Snake Bight Road near where it meets Rowdy Bend Road. Here are the birds I recorded
today along Snake Bight Road.
Great Blue Heron - 1
Great Egret - 7
Snowy Egret - 1
Little Blue Heron - 6
Tricolored Heron - 3
Green Heron - 3
White Ibis - 33
Turkey Vulture - 3
American Kestrel - 1
White-crowned Pigeon - 10
Barred Owl - 1 (heard)
Belted Kingfisher - 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 4
Great-crested Flycatcher - 1
White-eyed Vireo - 3
American Crow - 6
House Wren - 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 11
Gray Catbird - 4
Black-and-white Warbler - 3
American Redstart - 3
Ovenbird - 1
Northern Waterthrush - 2
Common Yellowthroat - 4
Northern Cardinal - 3
Indigo Bunting - 1
Painted Bunting - 10