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Posted by Steve Walter on 18:20:27 11/22/11
The birds of note:
Vermilion Flycatcher: As in yesterday's post, I only found one individual, on the north side of the road. Hopefully, the other one is safe and sound somewhere (ominous presence of a Cooper's Hawk on a wire along the canal later in the day).
Swainson's Hawk: About 7:30, a dark morph immature was perched in a relatively close tree on the north side of the road, just past the turn off for Lucky Hammock. I went back to the area about 2:30 in hopes of getting flight shots. Lo and behold, there were at least 5 in the area (mainly light morphs), on both sides of the road. For those planning to look, be aware that they sit on the ground. If scanning at the wrong time, there may not be a clue that they're there.
Short-tailed Hawk: Since many out-of-towners read this board, I'll share my Short-tail strategy -- since it worked so well today. I find them reliably at Royal Palm Hammock from November into February. The best time to look is when the vultures take off for the day, about 9:00 right now. Just look among them. Today there were 2-3 dark morphs and a light morph that appeared at close range. Pretty cool to photograph 2 color morphs of Short-tail and 2 morphs of Swainson's in the same day.
White-tailed Kite: I found (probably the previously reported) one at the end of Daniel Beard Research Road. That's the first time in many tries that's worked for me.
Speaking of firsts, I finally found Bartram's Scrub-Hairstreak on the mainland (individuals in two spots, no less) after many years.
Steve Walter
Bayside, NY
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