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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 17:36:39 08/15/11
I spent last weekend at Everglades National Park camping at Long Pine Key and birding the Flamingo area on Saturday and the north end of the park on Sunday. Among the more interesting birds seen were American Flamingo, Prothonotary Warblers, Worm-eating Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Ovenbirds, Northern Waterthrush, and Orchard Orioles.
A walk down the top third of Snake Bight Road on Saturday turned up two Prothonotary Warblers along with the Northern Waterthrush as well as American Redstarts, Yellow-throated Warbler, and two Louisiana Waterthrushes. Several Orchard Orioles were feeding in the Strangler Figs at Eco Pond and a couple more were in the figs in the median. The Yellow Warbler was in the Wild Tamarinds in the old cabin area. I made a few passes around the Flamingo parking areas but couldn t find and cowbird flocks. I kayaked to Snake Bight late Saturday afternoon and spotted the flamingo in the far northeastern corner of the bight farther east than I have ever seen this species. The water in that part of the bight was very warm; like uncomfortably warm bath water and waders were scarce on the grass flats. Since my last visit three weeks ago a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Forster s Terns have arrived and I was able to pick out one Dunlin and there were a few White Pelicans on the shore. Overall shorebird numbers were less than I am used to seeing there which seemed a little surprising since we are nearing the peak of fall shorebird migration.
A couple of Ovenbirds and a Worm-eating Warbler were the best birds seen during a morning walk around the pineland and hammock trails at Long Pine Key on Sunday morning. A couple of Louisiana Waterthrushes singing and chasing each other around the pond on Gumbo Limbo trail was the high point of that stop. On my way home Sunday afternoon a stop at Lucky Hammock produced my only Swallow-tailed Kite of the trip.
My warbler tally for the weekend was thirteen species so I would say landbird migration is definitely underway. Mosquitoes were still pretty bad at the north end of the park but weren t much worse in the Flamingo area. But they were at their usually impressive summer levels on Snake Bight Road.
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