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Posted by Brian Rapoza on 07:25:46 08/06/11
In Reply to: RFI: Gladeview Road and King Ranch Sod posted by Anil Antony
Gladeview Road is accessed from CR 880; the intersection is about 3 miles west of the intersection of CR 880 with US 441, or a couple of miles west of the Stormwater Treatment Area 1W parking area. It is marked by a street sign. This dirt road ends at a gate about 4 miles south of the intersection with CR 880. The flooded fields that are currently attracting shorebirds are just south of the intersection and about 1.5 miles south of the intersection.
King Ranch has property throughout the Everglades Agricultural Area, including on CR 880 just west of Gladeview Road. The section you're probably referring to is on the east side of US 27. About 14.5 miles north of the Palm Peach/Broward county line, there is a large radio tower that marks the area. A bridge near the tower crosses the canal to allow access to the fields on the east side of the highway; there are other bridges south of the tower.
I visited the Everglades Agricultural area yesterday. The King Ranch area on US 27 had a few shorebirds, including Pectoral Sandpipers and a few Gull-billed Terns. A pair of Northern Bobwhite were scurrying along the road in this area, surprisingly, my first for Palm Beach County! I also had a couple of Cliff Swallows at the bridge that is just south of the intersection of US 27 with CR 827.
On CR 880, the flooded fields about 1.5 miles east of Duda Road continue to be productive, including eleven American Avocets and an impressive nine Wilson's Phalaropes! On Browns Farm Road, the flooded fields accessed from the first bridge (about a mile from the intersection with CR 880) were equally impressive, in particular, the incredible number of Roseate Spoonbills! I found a Marbled Godwit in these fields, an unusual species to see at an inland location. There were also a few avocets and good numbers of Gull-billed and Black Terns among the thousands of shorebirds present.
The fields on Gladeview Road had both shorebirds and terns, but numbers were not as high as locations just mentioned. That could change, as conditions seem to change from day to day in these fields. I had hoped to stop at the sod fields on CR 880 between Gladeview and Sam Senter Road, but a paving crew was working on the section of CR 880 where Upland Sandpipers had been reported recently, so I had to skip it. I failed to find Upland Sandpipers at any of the other sod fields I checked, but it was a very good day nonetheless.
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