Posted by Conrad Sankpill on March 15, 2002 at 17:10:03:
In Reply to: Spoonbills and white pelicans posted by James G. Duquesnel on March 13, 2002 at 19:55:54:
On four of the past six days I have observed between 6 and 20 Roseate Spoonbills between Florida City and the Monroe County line. I checked the exact location today (Friday 3/15/02) at 1015 hrs and at 1600 hrs and they were between mile 119.5 and 120.25. There are numbers of White Pelicans and Wood Storks as well as the waders and cormorants. The White Pelicans are cooperatively herding fish into the edges of the ditch bringing a lot of opportunistic followers. The Roseate Spoonbills are generally in thes same areas perhaps capitalizing on the disturbed bottom.
Tourists visiting Pennekamp and Key Largo Hammock, and some of our commuting park staff, have been raving all week about the large flocks of Roseate Spoonbills and White Pelicans they have been seeing in the ditch paralleling the 18-mile stretch between Florida City and Key Largo. When I ask for specifics, several have mentioned they saw the birds near the northernmost of the two passing zones (I think that would be approximately mile marker 126?).