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Posted by Rick Schofield on 16:02:25 03/22/12
I am both happy and sad to say that Spring Migration has begun. Happy because we may see an interesting assortment of warblers stopping by on their way north (but that remains to be seen). Sad because some of our birders are already leaving for northern climes (and that is a definite).
The water levels in C-6 are down somewhat and that has attracted more waders and shore birds than in recent weeks. We had the standard list of waders but no Bitterns this week. The Mottled Ducks and Blue-winged Teals were joined by a couple of Wood Ducks and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. Shorebirds included Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitchers, Wilson's Snipe, and Black-necked Stilts.
Raptors included both Vultures, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, and two pairs of Red-shouldered Hawks -- both nesting within the Marsh Trail area. The owls -- Great Horned and Eastern Screech -- appear to have left as have the Eastern Phoebes, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Loggerhead Shrikes.
The pair of Nanday Parakeets are still hanging around but I'm not sure if they nested successfully. Warblers were limited to Palm, Prairie, and Common Yellowthroat.
Today's highlight was a full breeding plumage Indigo Bunting (photo-of-the-day). He was in the same area as the Painted Buntings (also present) have been seen for the last few weeks. I mentioned last week that we had a Painted Bunting (male), Northern Cardinal (male), House Wren, and Palm Warbler all in the same bush at the same time. This week we had the Indigo Bunting (male), Painted Bunting (both male and female), Northern Cardinal (both male and female), and Common Yellowthroat (male) all in the same group of bushes all at the same time.
We still await our FOS Swallow-tailed Kites but, hopefully, they should appear any time now.
Rick
Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail, Palm Beach, US-FL
Mar 21, 2012 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments: Weekly Wednesday morning birdwalk, Marsh Trail, Loxahatchee NWR, Boynton Beach, Florida. 29 birders. Fred Test, Bob & Janet Phillips, Jan & Dave Conley, leaders.
55 species
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Wood Duck 2
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Kestrel
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Mourning Dove
Nanday Parakeet
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting (male, fully indigo -- not blotchy)
Painted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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