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Posted by Rick Schofield on 19:37:20 12/16/13
On Saturday I filled in as leader of an Audubon Society of the Everglades (ASE) field trip to the Wellington Environmental Preserve (WEP) on Flying Cow Road in Wellington. For those unfamiliar with this area, it is immediately adjacent to the southern portion of STA-1E and, therefore, shares quite a few of the species. It is a stormwater treatment facility that handles runoff from the city of Wellington before it is discharged into the C1/C51 canals that, in turn, empty into the northern-most Everglades.
I'll be honest in saying that I wasn't expecting a whole lot based on my experience there last year (though in previous years it was very birdy). Boy was I wrong.
For some reason, Northern Pintails prefer WEP over STA-1E -- just over the canal. They were everywhere. Even though I know I should try harder to keep an accurate count of things seen, I haven't been doing a good job at that. So, I estimate the number of Pinheads (as the son of one in our group calls them) at over 100. In addition to them we had Mottled, Ruddy, and Ring-necked Ducks as well as Blue- and Green-winged Teal.
We had all the standard waders (but no Spoonbills).
Raptors included both Vultures, Osprey (many), Red-shouldered Hawk, Northern Harrier, Snail Kite (2), and Bald Eagle (1). A very high bird, soaring with a kettle of vultures, was just too high up to positively ID. But thinking back on its shape, location, and movements, I am leaning to Dark Morph Short-tailed Hawk.
Species that are very common at WEP are Limpkin, Snail Kite, American Kestrel, Loggerhead Shrike, Eastern Phoebe, and Palm Warbler, all of which we had.
The Bird of the Day, however -- and I find it difficult to say this being a snowbird, myself -- was a single Canada Goose. I see them everywhere up north (where they are considered vermin) but this was the first time I've seen one in South Florida. I realize that this could be an escapee but who, in their right mind, would keep a Canada Goose as a pet? (The bird was still hanging around on Sunday.)
Rick
Wellington Environmental Preserve, Palm Beach, US-FL
Dec 14, 2013 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
3.5 mile(s)
Comments: Audubon Society of the Everglades field trip. 7 birders. Rick Schofield, leader.
49 species (+1 other taxa)
Canada Goose 1 (First Canada Goose I've seen in Palm Beach County)
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Pintail (Lots and lots -- probably over a hundred)
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Ruddy Duck 2
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite 2 (One adult male, one juvenile/female)
Northern Harrier 1
Accipiter sp. 1 (Too high up to positively ID)
Bald Eagle 1
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Swamphen
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Killdeer
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern 1
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Palm Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S15961035
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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