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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 20:01:02 08/02/04
In Reply to: Palm Beach Sod Farms - 8/1 posted by Rock Jetty
I got up to the same area on Saturday (7/31), here is a list of shorebirds and other birds that may be of interest that were seen:
Roseate Spoonbill - 11 immature (Kings Ranch)
Northern Harrier - 1 sub-adult male (Microwave Tower)
Fulvous Whistling Duck - several (Kings Ranch and CR 827w)
Killdeer - common (Most Locations)
Black-necked Stilt - abundant (Most Locations)
Greater Yellowlegs - 1 (Microwave Tower)
Lesser Yellowlegs - many (Microwave Tower)
Solitary Sandpiper - 1 (Microwave Tower)
Upland Sandpiper - 3 (Kings Ranch Sod Fields)
Semipalmated Sandpiper - several (Microwave Tower)
Western Sandpiper - 2 (Microwave Tower)
Least Sandpiper - many (Most Locations)
Pectoral Sandpiper - many (Microwave Tower and Kings Ranch Sod Fields)
Stilt Sandpiper - 3 (Microwave Tower)
Dowitcher (sp.) - several (Microwave Tower)
Laughing Gull - several (Kings Ranch)
Gull-billed Tern - several (Kings Ranch)
Least Tern - many (Kings Ranch)
Black Tern - several (Kings Ranch)
Barn Owl - 2 (Barn Owl Site)
Eastern Kingbird - (Belle Glade Marina)
Gray Kingbird - (Belle Glade Marina)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 200 (Belle Glade Marina)
Barn Swallow - abundant (Most Locations)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - several (Barn Owl Site)
Northern Parula - 1 (Barn Owl Site)
Yellow-throated Warbler - 1 (Barn Owl Site)
Prairie Warbler - 1 (Barn Owl Site)
American Redstart - 2 (Barn Owl Site)
Common Yellowthroat - common, some singing (Most Locations)
: A spur of the moment afternoon trip to the sod/cane farms along US27 and CR880 yielded a good amount of shorebirds and a tremendous amount of rain. I tried to check out most of the spots David Simpson had mentioned in his posting a week earlier. I knew there'd be a lot of rain and the birding would be on and off but I also had a feeling rain wasn't all the front would bring. At King Ranch along US27, thousands of shorebirds littered the fields: Lesser Yellowlegs (can't say for sure if Greater were present, the scoping had to be quick sometimes), Pectoral Sandpiper, SB Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, and Black-necked Stilt were ID'd. Too many birds to go over carefully with all the storms around. An equally impressive amount of waders, which included Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill, complemented the shorebirds and a large number of Barn Swallows flew over the fields. One Gull-billed Tern and nine Mottled Ducks made fly-bys. Common Nighthawks by the hundreds perched on the wires along CR827 and Browns Farm Road. Other than the King Ranch Fields, the fields along the other roads looked pretty empty (except for grackles and blackbirds) but given the time constraints and weather, I'm pretty sure I missed something here and there. I'm glad Roberto saw a similar picture in the SR9336 fields. The shorebirds are here...did anyone say phalarope?
:
: Cheers,
: The Rock
:
: P.S. Can't wait to bird the fields with Paul later this month...feel better buddy.
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