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Posted by Paul-the -other on 20:50:04 01/15/06
I spent three days in the ENP, two of which were windy and non-productive. But I did find these successes:
Two wild turkey hens on the research road just west of the helicopter pad. I leanred from the PArk officials that a good many turkeys were released in the last tree months in the pine areas around the scout campground.
No nuthatches or bluebirds. Wind was blowing steady at 25 with gusts to 35. Lousy viewing day, worse photography day.
Flamingo is a veritable dust bowl. A fine grain dust from the marl that is now dried and blowing around. Just a drab grey everywhere. The house boats are being sold for scrap. The cabins are hollow shells with torn up roofs, no walls, warped doors, broken windows. The marina is no where near operational. Boats can launch to the freshwater side but not the bay.
Paurotis pond has increasing numbers of Roseatte and the usual cast of characters. No flyctachers, or anything other than a lonely palm warbler.
Roseattes were also visible at Anhinga Trail but a distance out in the open grass area. Sunday, the winds dropped and everywhere you loked the waders were active. Three flocks of glossy ibis with 15-45 each flew over. Wood storks numbered about 35. Alligators were sunning to get warm and the snow egrets, common egrets GBH and one morph-white GB were tip toeing around them. Cormorants are nest building and about 6 are incubating. Anhingas are also nest building and I saw four nests under incubation. The eastern phoebe quarreled with another for the reed section by the end of the tar path where it meets the eastern boardwalk. A red shouldered hawk dined on a frog and the kettle of vultures rose several hundreds of feet into the air. The wind at the higher elevation was still blowing so the "dance of the vultures" sort of fell apart at 400-500 feet...neverhteless it was an impressive sight.
No coots anywhere. Strange field note for me to record. And stranger yet, one only Purple gallinule. Friends called me to say that the Merritt island area has hundred of coots. Do they have ours? Are they so dispersed that none are at Anhinga? "Tis a puzzlement."
One northern harrier (or marsh hawk as I used to say) was patrolng the corn field just before the entry into the ENP. It was there all three days. It looked real good. So did the corn!
Lucky hammock was somewhat quiet. A few prairie and palm warblers and a blue-gray, and much swirling dust. (Screws up the glass on the binoc real quick)
Water is dropping and the flow under the Anhinga trail bridges is down to a trickle. Another three weeks and the killing fields will begin as the trapped fish lure in the waders.
As I drove back to Ft. Lauderdale and saw the great abundance of waders along the turnpike and in all the retaining ponds it is now wonder that the PArk itself is slowly becoming not the main draw. The land stewardship, green peace, environmental work of TAS and other groups is having a great impact. Who needs Corkscrew swamp when we have wood storks in the K-mart parking lot in Coral Springs, Great Blues are nesting in Wakodahatchee in trees so close you can photograph them with a 200mm lens, and white ibis stroll through my neighborhood every four days or so. And last week, a pileated woodpecker investigated my "Wilma-Garden" in what used to be my back-yard hammock.
How the times change. Don't even need a beer to agree with PaulB that Life is great...
Monday, it's back to Wakodahatchee to check the progress of the nesting GBH.
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