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Posted by Rick Schofield on 12:51:47 11/15/12
This week's walk started with breakfast and ended with lunch.
In between we had a very low-key nature walk that included views of lots of butterflies, discussions of native plants, and sightings of a couple of mammals. Oh, and we had a respectable 42 bird species (though I'd hope for more soon).
Breakfast consisted of an Anhinga perched at the top of a cypress with a speared Bluegill/Crappie/Sunfish (it was hard to determine in the strongly backlit lighting).
Lunch was like the never-ending salad bar at Ruby Tuesday -- not in the extent of options but in the time it took to consume. While checking for Buntings, we noticed a commotion nearby which turned out to be a Little Blue Heron capturing and attempting to finish it off a Pig Frog. The whole process took probably 15-20 minutes. (See linked photos.)
In the Visitors' Center area we had Black-throated Green, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Cardinal, Carolina and House Wren, Pileated and Downy Woodpecker.
The section immediately west of the bus parking lot (that I refer to as "Butterfly Triangle") did not disappoint. It was cram packed with loads of butterflies including, Queen (hundreds), Zebra, Gulf Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, White Peacock, and a Swallow-tail sp. (my guess being Palamedes but possibly Giant).
In the C-6 impoundment we had Purple Gallinule (both immature and adult), another Anhinga with a fish, Limpkin, and an assortment of waders (though no Snowy, Tricolored or Green).
With rain showers approaching, we made it back to the Marsh Trail parking lot (and completely avoided the showers). Here in the parking lot we picked up a couple of quite colorful Prairie Warblers.
We then walked the Marsh Trail south in search of Buntings but came up empty for them but did witness the lunch spectacular with the Little Blue Heron as well as a dive-bombing Northern Harrier.
Rick
Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail, Palm Beach, US-FL
Nov 14, 2012 7:30 AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.5 mile(s)
Comments: Weekly Wednesday morning birdwalk, Marsh Trail, Loxahatchee NWR, Boynton Beach, Florida. 4 birders. Rick Schofield, leader.
42 species
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork 1
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 1
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Gallinule 3 (2 immature, 1 adult)
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker 1
Pileated Woodpecker (lots)
Monk Parakeet 6
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12041329
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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