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Posted by Rick Schofield on 10:56:27 11/29/12
Wednesday's walk at Loxahatchee attracted 7 birders, increasing numbers of ducks (Mottled and Blue-winged Teal), lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and THOUSANDS of Tree Swallows.
While getting organized in the parking lot, Sue noticed masses of swallows at the far end of the refuge. We watched as they massed, swirled, and moved from the southwest corner to the southeast corner and then disappeared. While not quite a murmuration, it was pretty impressive. Walking up to the Visitors' Center, we half jokingly guessed that there were 4,624 Tree Swallows and 1 Northern Rough-winged.
At the Visitors' Center we had our our regular female Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Palm, Prairie, and a few Yellow-rumped Warblers; House and Carolina wrens; Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (though in fewer numbers than recently); and calling Red-bellied and Pileated Woodpeckers.
We walked the butterfly triangle area where there were hundreds and hundreds of Queen, Viceroy, and Soldier butterflies joined by dozens of Zebra Heliconians and a smattering of others.
We decided to walk Lee Road looking for more small birds and came up with Great-crested Flycatcher; Eastern Phoebe; Palm, Black-and-white, and Yellow-rumped Warblers; with flyovers of several Pileated Woodpeckers. Along this stretch of the walk we witnessed another mass of Tree Swallows flying overhead.
Walking the Marsh Trail we had the "normal" waders (though, again, not in as high numbers as in the past). Blue-winged Teals were more plentiful and were joined by a few Mottled Ducks.
Tree Swallows continued to congregate overhead but kept moving along. At one point, however, eagle-eyed Sue mentioned that the swallows were massing in unbelievable numbers near the parking lot. From our vantage point, they looked like an enormous swarm of mosquitoes. (I've never walked the Snake Bight trail in the Everglades but this is how I imagine it to be during the height of mosquito season.) I only wish that I could have taken photos or videos of this performance.
When we returned to the parking lot where we put together the count list, we discussed how many swallows we had seen and decided to compromise between 5,000 and 10,000, hence the 7,500 reported. I am convinced that this is conservative.
When we tallied the total count at 46, I said that it was too bad that we didn't match last week's count of 47 so we walked the parking lot hoping to add another species. And after a short while we were able to add Blue-headed Vireo to our list. Hooray! Next week we'll go for over 50.
Until next Wednesday,
Rick
Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail, Palm Beach, US-FL
Nov 28, 2012 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
2.0 mile(s)
Comments: Weekly Wednesday morning birdwalk, Marsh Trail, Loxahatchee NWR, Boynton Beach, Florida. 7 birders. Rick Schofield, leader.
47 species
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal 11
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer (heard)
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker 6 (at least 6 but probably closer to 10)
American Kestrel 2
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow 7500 (massive swarms passing regularly. 7,500 is conservative!)
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Black-and-white Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) (lots)
Prairie Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12178457
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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