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Posted by Rick Schofield on 15:49:44 01/10/14
Better late than never?
Despite the overcast, drizzly, murky, raw, chilly conditions, 10 hearty souls arrived at the Marsh Trail parking lot for the weekly Wednesday walk at Loxahatchee NWR. (Notice that I called it a "walk"?)
The light was so poor that Rod suggested that rather than go directly to the Visitors' Center we might take the loop around C6. Without objection, that's just what we did.
We didn't get a whole lot of stuff but it was probably better than what we might otherwise have gotten.
When we got around to the C6 Pavilion area we picked up quite a lot including our FOS Snail Kite hunting over C6. Of course I didn't have my camera because I was concerned about getting it wet in the occasional showers. All in the group got good views of the female/immature Snail Kite as it swooped for Apple Snails. In the cypresses and live oaks we added a bunch of warblers, kinglets, vireos, and woodpeckers. One and then two Red-shouldered Hawks landed at the top of one of the cypresses. We haven't seen any evidence (nor heard of any) that they are nesting but maybe soon.
Walking Lee Rd along C6, we had decent views of Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Ducks, and a few waders.
There wasn't a whole lot going on around and behind the Visitors' Center and the walk quickly turned into a Koffee Klatsch (without the coffee). Everyone understood that there weren't going to be a whole lot of birds and were able to live with that.
We slowly meandered back to the Marsh Trail parking lot where we put together the day list. While there, hundreds (thousands?) of swallows -- both Tree and Northern Rough-winged -- circled around like swarms of mosquitoes. This in contrast to our West Palm Beach CBC where very few swallows were sighted.
No camera -- no photos. No light -- no photos.
Until next Wednesday,
Rick
Loxahatchee NWR--Marsh Trail, Palm Beach, US-FL
Jan 8, 2014 7:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.25 mile(s)
Comments: Weekly Wednesday morning birdwalk, Marsh Trail, Loxahatchee NWR, Boynton Beach, Florida. 10 birders. Rick Schofield, leader.
47 species
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Wood Stork
Anhinga
American Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite 1 seen searching for Apple Snails over C6; female/juvenile
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 two friendly hawks; pair?
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Mourning Dove
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1 single hummer buzzed Rod
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin large flocks of hundreds or thousands
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
Yellow-throated Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16294727
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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