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Posted by Nancy Freedman on 16:24:10 03/30/13
A spectacular day for 17 birders! Wakodahatchee: 4 Neotropic Cormorants (we believe 3 youngsters and an adult). A gator growl led us to a Least Bittern nearby. A total of 4 Soras. At "Wood Stork Island", there were Wood Storks nesting on the top (with young) surrounded by nesting Egrets, Snowy, Cattle and Great. Glossy Ibis were mating just below in beautiful sunlight. We had a total of three Wilson's Snipes, an American Bittern, Black-necked Stilts, Solitary Sandpiper, approx. 25 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flying about, an adult and immature Black-crowned Night Heron, 2 Purple Gallinules. We only saw one female Martin flying around. On the way out, a female Northern Harrier was flying over the entrance. Warblers were few, Palm, Prairie, Parula, Myrtle and Common Yellow Throat.
At Green Cay, we waited for the Chat on the left side of the entrance and sure enough, it showed up after 20 minutes,giving everyone great views. A male Ruby-throated Hummingbird was on the other side of the entrance. Upon entering, we had our first Pied-billed Grebes, a Solitary Sandpiper, Red Shoulder Hawk perched in the snag on the left. Northern Rough-Winged Swallows and Tree Swallows as well as a few Martins were in the air. Finally, we found our one and only Little Blue, which was white. Male and female Painted Buntings were on the back feeders. A Mottled Duck was chasing away a White-winged Dove from underneath another feeder. The "nursery area" contained Common Gallinules with 2 of their strange looking babies sprouting litte red wings that looked like feet and bald red patches on their heads. Next to them was a Mottled Duck with three youngsters. There were at least two Least Sandpipers with another Solitary Sandpiper and two sleeping Wilson's Snipes in the background with a Lesser Yellowlegs further out. A beautiful Purple Gallinule flew over a log full of turtles. Past the Cypress area, we encountered male and female Least Bitterns out in the open with a water snake curled up very close by. A Sora was also present with the Bitterns. As for warblers, we had the same as those at Wakodahatchee except for the addition of a female Black & White.
At Okeeheelee there were the expected Painted Buntings, a Brown Thrasher and the other usual inhabitants. Our trip with Colin to the raptor enclosure included introductions to two white-tailed deer, Bucky and Baby, who we enjoyed petting. The raptors we met included Maya, a Broad-winged Hawk who was blind in one eye after being hit by a car; Cheyenne, a Red Shouldered Hawk; Camelot,the Merlin with only one wing; Sir Galahad, a 15 year old Red-tailed Hawk who was quite feisty; Cyprus, the Barred Owl who had also been hit by a car. All these are educational birds. We then went back inside the Nature Center to visit with Hootie, the brown-morph Screech Owl and Alex the Great-horned Owl who was on display. We also had a Swallow-tailed Kite give us a flyover. Colin is truly the bird-whisperer.
Quite a day!
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