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Posted by Rick Schofield on 15:28:46 12/13/12
As we have been doing so far this season, we started by walking to the Visitors' Center area to look for little birds and woodpeckers. (We had already had fly-overs of several Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers in the parking lot.) Things were pretty slow, the light was horrible for ID'ing the few warbler-types that were present and there weren't any woodpeckers other than calls from a couple of Red-breasted. There was one House Wren chattering and one Caroline Wren doing its "Whoochee, whoochee, whoochee" variation. So, after a while I said that it was time to move on to find other things.
I'll have to remember that declaration because, no sooner had I said it, a whole $%&$-load of warblers flew into the Cypresses surrounding the pavilion behind the Visitors' Center. Due to the poor lighting, it was difficult to ID them all -- some remain un-ID'ed -- but the majority were Pine Warblers with a few Yellow-rumped, Palm, and Black-and-white thrown in. Then, to add to the Pileated and Red-breasted Woodpeckers that we had already seen, some Downy and a single Yellow-bellied Sapsucker joined the frenzy.
When I again said it was time to move on, yet another wave of warblers descended and we had to check them all out. They were pretty much the same types of birds in this group with one big exception. Two raptors, one small and one large, screamed (both literally and velocitorilly -- my word) directly over our heads heading west. Two seconds later they returned going east only a few feet above our heads. The Cypress trees allowed the chased to veer off and avoid the pursuer and both ended up perching separately nearby within a few hundred feet of where we stood. One was a Merlin; the other was a Red-shouldered Hawk.
Then the Ruby-throated Hummingbird made a brief appearance.
Because of the dearth of waders and ducks, we've been spending most of our walks looking for smaller birds. But the Red-shouldered Hawks were everywhere this morning and, hence, the small birds were hunkered down. We were able to get a small number of each of the larger waders and finally found a small flock of Blue-winged Teals so the total count isn't that shabby.
At the very end of the morning's walk we were looking for Painted Buntings. One person saw what she thought was a female but didn't feel strongly enough to positively identify it as such. In the same area, a few of us heard the distinctive whinny of a Sora but it was well off to the south and we never saw it. Next week's walk will include that area and, hopefully, we'll catch a glance.
Until next Wednesday,
Rick
Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail, Palm Beach, US-FL
Dec 12, 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. 14 birders. Rick Schofield, leader.
50 species
Blue-winged Teal 6
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Sora 1 (heard)
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 6
Merlin 1
Monk Parakeet 12
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Loggerhead Shrike 1
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12278667
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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