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Posted by David S. on 21:09:57 08/08/11
Yesterday, Roxanne, Troy, Jeanette and I traveled to the Sod Farms and surrounding areas off of US 27 and Brown s Farm Road. On our first stop, about 10:00 am, 1.5 miles E of Duda Rd., Palm Beach, in a flooded 50-acre flooded field, we were greeted with large numbers of shorebirds, notably Black-necked Stilts, Roseate Spoonbills, Long-billed Dowitchers, Stilt Sandpipers, Wilsons Phalaropes (7), and 1 Pectoral Sandpiper. It was good that Steve Segel was in the area birding, and he came by to visit with us and enjoy the birds at this stop.
Next, we traveled to Brown's Farm Road, and 1st Bridge to the east, we crossed over to a flooded, shallow field. There, we were rewarded with large numbers of Roseate Spoonbills, Lesser Yellowlegs, Black-neck Stilts, Long-billed Dowitchers, Glossy Ibises, a Snowy Egret, a Green Heron, and 4 Cliff Swallows.
Getting hungry, we left Brown s Farm Road and went back to Rd. 880, turned east and traveled about a mile to a large (200-300 acre) short, grassy sod field where we identified 3 Eastern Meadowlarks foraging in the distance, and 2 Upland Sandpipers way in the distance. Scopes were a must in this area.
After about 15-20 minutes, we headed west on Rd. 880 past Rd. 827 about 1 mile to a large, flooded field that looked like it had some interesting ducks. They all turned out to be Mottled Ducks, but we picked up some interesting birds in a dry, mulch area along the shore. Picking through the mulch, were a Ruddy Turnstone, Rock Dove, 2 Semi-palmated Plovers, 16 Brown-headed Cowbirds, and some strange-colored Red-wing Blackbirds. We headed to Clewiston to eat, and dodged a quick but heavy rain shower during lunch. The weather did not look promising, and when we left to head south on US 27, a few miles into our drive, the rain really came down.
We traveled about 20 miles south on US 27, and the rain let up briefly, around 3:30. We stopped at the Organic Fields to the east of US 27, located about a mile north of King Ranch. After crossing the canal bridge, we drove east on a rocky road about ¼ mile to an open field about a foot deep in water and filled with thick, 1-2 ft. tall grass. We could identify only the birds with tall necks that would stick up above the grass. Impending rain and lightning bolts in the area made for a hasty birding excursion. We managed quite a few Black-necked Stilts, some Greater Yellowlegs, and 17 Fulvous Whistling Ducks in flight, before they would land and disappear in the tall grass. A few more close lightning bolts and heavy rain ended our tour of this interesting area. Birds seen and counted are as follows:
Fulvous Whistling-Duck 17
Mottled Ducks 17
Wood Stork 25
Anhinga 1
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 13
Snowy Egret 1
Cattle Egret 1
Tricolored Heron 7
Green Heron 1
White Ibis 4
Glossy Ibis 90
Roseate Spoonbill 175
Purple Swamphen 1
American Avocet 2
Black-necked Stilt 490
Semipalmated Plover 2
Killdeer 14
Lesser Yellowlegs 76
Greater Yellowlegs 45
Wilson's Phalarope 7
Long-billed Dowitcher 250
Stilt Sandpiper 414
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 10
Least Sandpiper 10
Upland Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 3
Gull-billed Tern 4
Least Tern 1
Black Tern 17
Rock Dove 1
Mourning Dove 14
Common Ground-Dove 3
Common Nighthawk 2
Cliff Swallow 4
European Starling 2
Eastern Meadowlark 3
Red-winged Blackbird 27
Brown-headed Cowbird 16
Boat-tailed Grackle 17
Common Grackle 4
Other birds observed en-route to specific areas were: Turkey Vultures, Common Nighthawk, Red-shouldered Hawks, Red-tailed Hawk.
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