Posted by Vera Inman on February 11, 2002 at 18:52:08:
Visited the dump marsh yesterday and today around 4:00 pm both days. Yesterday I saw an American Avocet, a dozen White Pelicans, Blue and Green Winged Teals, Tricolors, Little Blue Heron, Cattle Egrets, a Shoveler, Cormorants, 2 Kingfishers, a Merlin, a Red Shouldered Hawk, several Lesser Yellow Legs, American Wigeons, Lesser Scaup, a couple of Gadwells the usual Coots, and I was most surprised to see a Piliated Woodpecker. It flew over the length of the pond and seemed to disappear into a tree. A fellow-birder, David Cutler confirmed the Pileated.
Today, I saw a couple dozen Ruddy Turnstones and a single Flamingo besides most of the same birds as yesterday. I was wondering if the Flamingo was an escapee from the zoo or the racetrack. This was the first Flamingo I can remember seeing in this area. No Piliated today much to my disappointment.
Am interested in other sightings of the Piliated Woodpecker and the Flamingo.