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Posted by David S. on 22:43:19 12/30/12
Anna Scharnagl and I left the dock at Buttonwood Canal, located at the end of the Bear Lake Road, at 7:30 am. Temperature was a humid 70 degrees with a light wind from the SW. We paddled to Coot Bay, picking up song birds in the trees, but no waders. At Coot Bay, which is not our count area, we observed 1500-2000 Coots, with several Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup and a Common Loon. We picked up our count area again, at the entrance of the Mud Lake Creek and heard a Barred Owl calling. We got to Mud Lake and followed the northern coast to our next creek leading into the Homestead Canal and Bear Lake. By this time the winds picked up, so we hugged the north coast of Bear Lake, paddling all the way to the west end and up to the creek that leads into the western expanses of lakes and bays of the Everglades. We then headed eastward along the south shore, poking into little bodies of shallow water that were full of waders and where our ducks were found. Many Kingfishers and Spotted Sandpipers were perched on numerous dead trees and snags that littered the south shore of the lake. After going the perimeter of Bear Lake, our count ended and we returned to the docks via the Homestead Canal at 2:30 pm. Total distance traveled was 10.23 miles. Our birds tallied are listed as follows:
Blue-winged Teal 17
Green-winged Teal 7
Wood Stork 11
Double-crested Cormorant 18
Anhinga 39
American White Pelican 65
Brown Pelican 2
Great Blue Heron 14
Great Egret 19
Snowy Egret 39
Little Blue Heron 44
Tricolored Heron 73
Green Heron 7
Black-crowned Night-Heron 8
White Ibis 31
Roseate Spoonbill 14
Black Vulture 8
Turkey Vulture 14
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 1 juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk 6
Short-tailed Hawk 2 1 light morph, 1 dark
Common Gallinule 1
American Coot 14
Spotted Sandpiper 22
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 7
Caspian Tern 2
White-crowned Pigeon 2
Barred Owl 2 heard calling
Belted Kingfisher 30
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
White-eyed Vireo 6
American Crow 10
Tree Swallow 42
Marsh Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 18
Gray Catbird 15
Black-and-white Warbler 7
Common Yellowthroat 32
American Redstart 4
Palm Warbler 19
Yellow-throated Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 10
Northern Cardinal 9
Red-winged Blackbird 6
Common Grackle 2
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