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Posted by Paul Bithorn on 17:23:50 07/24/05
My amigo,Juan Villamil and I headed north on Saturday, July 23, 2005 in search of early fall migrants.The weather was typical for July and August with temperatures inching into the mid-nineties. Remember, take plenty of water when birding this area!
Our first stop was the Holeyland/Rotenberger Tract on the Broward/Palm Beach County line. High waters have pushed many White-tailed Deer up on to the levee. Several Peninsula Ribbon Snakes were also seen sunning along the paved road. Please drive with caution, so as not to harm these beautiful reptiles. Eastern Towhees, Carolina Wrens and a Black and White Warbler were the highlights.
The sod farms along US 27 had Mottled Ducks,Glossy Ibis,Kildeer, Black-necked Stilts, Barn Swallows, Purple Martins and a King Rail in a ditch between some sugar cane fields.
Heading west on CR 827 from US 27 we found the flooded field mentioned by Toe and Rock Jetty in a post last week, where the road turns north towards Belle Glade. White Pelicans, Wood Storks, Caspian,Black and Least Tern, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers and many unidentified shorebirds - due to distance and poor lighting conditions - were the highlights. Thanks to a tip by Toe and Rock, we were able to locate a Smooth-billed Ani just north of the "Do Not Enter" gate north of the flooded field. A trip to Browns Farm Road was fruitless as there were no flooded fields.
We headed back east of US 27 on CR 827 and picked up Least Bittern, Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Roseate Spoonbill, Swallow-tailed Kite and Spotted and Least Sandpipers. The non-champion stand of Bald Cypress trees on the Miami Canal had 6 Barn Owls. After a belly full of BBQ at Sonny's in Clewiston we headed to STA-5 on Blumberg Rd. Construction is taking place there and the water levels are very high, so there was little activity birdwise.
Government Road had two Crested Caracara, Cannon Hammock produced Great-crested Flycatcher, Carolina Wren, White-eyed Vireo and Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, but the highlight of the day was a dirt road north of Government Road (Josie Billie Way), just south of the Seminole Indian Reservation (Look for an upside down stop sign at the turnoff). We began hearing Northern Bobwhite calling on the north side of the canal in a freshly mowed pasture. We soon located a half-dozen quail, when a male flew up to a fencepost and began calling like crazy. We soon realized that he was standing sentry, as a Bobcat hunted in the nearby field. We watched slackjawed as the beautiful cat hunted -oblivious to our presence.
We continued south on Government Rd. and were stunned to find a flammulated King Rail glowing in some high grass inside a gated plant with a chemical warning about Benzene being present. A female would soon joined him.
Thunderstorms chased us onto Alligator Alley, but we couldn't resist a stop at the SW Regional Library stormwater retention pond, where we easily located two Purple Swamphens.
We hoisted a few Heinekens as our celebratory libation to a great day of viewing Florida's diverse wildlife.
Life is good............
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