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Posted by Toe on 15:27:52 07/17/05
Today Raul "Rock Jetty" and I tried our luck in the Sod Farm area. Our first stop was the radio tower which produced only Black-necked Stilts and Killdeer. We would see these two species again. We then tried the Bolles Canal Road (827A?). About 1 mile west of US-27 we found a flooded field with some mud flats and decent birds (Field #1). Here we found FULVOUS WHISTLING DUCKS (3), SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS (they called), GREATER AND LESSER YELLOWLEGS, LEAST, SOLITARY AND SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, and a few other things. We then continued west along Bolled Road and found a KING RAIL on the road. We got out and had fantastic looks as it walked along the canal bank. We found 5 BARN OWLS at the Cedar Stand on Miami Canal Road, then two more further south. We found no other fields in this area with the right conditions for shorebirds. We headed back towards US-27, but stopped at Field #1 again just to see: nothing new. We then headed east of US-27 on Bolles Road and found a large flooded field just where it turns north towards South Bay. Here there was a large concentration of shorebirds but they were concentrated on the eastern shore, making ID difficult. We proceeded north in hopes of finding a way to the eastern side. About 1/2 mile north of the field we passed a berm with a locked gate and "No Trespassing" on it. As we passed, some black birds flew across the road and Rock asked "Were those Anis?" I wasn't paying attention, so we continued. We found anothter flooded field further north but no birds, and no fields in the South Bay area were in any form of shorebird shape, so we headed back. We stopped at the locked "No Trespassing" gate in hopes of getting a view at the flooded field. No sooner did we get out of the car that we heard an ani call. About 30 feet south of us there were 3 SMOOTH-BILLED ANIS calling and giving us great looks. Nice to find these birds in a different place than the airport. Not wanting to give up on the large numbers of birds in this area, we set up our scopes along the road and got about a dozen each Spoonbills, Wood Storks, and White Pelicans, about 2 dozen Dowitcher species (no calls), About 100 Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, and some small peeps that were too far for ID. We decided to head back home, stopping in case we saw any of the swallows we saw on the wires heading up. But, we made one more stop at Field #1 just in case. Here we found, within feet of each other, a BLACK TERN, CASPIAN TERN, Least Terns, and Laughing Gull. Considering it's only July 17th, birding can only get better with each passing day. I probably missed something, so Rock, feel free to correct me. Good birding to all!
Toe
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