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Posted by Rick Schofield on 11:38:24 03/10/14
Fourteen birders loaded up into six cars long before dawn on Saturday to begin the long and arduous Great Circle Trek.
Chapter 1
Starting from various locations around Palm Beach County, we all made our way west along I-75 to the Miccosukee Service Plaza on Government Rd / Snake Rd (it is known by both names) half way to Naples. Once all had arrived, signed in, were issued walkie-talkies, and used the facilities, we began our caravan north.
We made one stop along the way to scope out a pond on the west side of the road where we picked up a decent number of waders (and friends) for such a small space. We had hoped for raptors in the wide open fields on the east side of the road but came up empty though we did get some farther on along the road.
We had to pick up the pace in order to get to STA-5 by 8:30 so we didn t stop at any other spots even though some had spotted a few Scissor-tailed Flycatchers next to the road. I wasn t worried, though, because I knew that we d get some later in the day. We signed in with Margaret England from Hendry/Glades Audubon, consolidated into five cars and began the loop through STA-5. It is similar to -- but different from -- STA-1E if you ve never been there.
When we made our first stop to check stuff out, we were joined by Paddy Cunningham who was there to lead the stragglers. But there weren t any stragglers so she became our co-leader. I was happy to have her join us -- even more so as you will see later.
The southeast portion of STA-5 is off-limits because of nesting Snail Kites so we turned north along the levee that separates cells 1-A/1-B (on the west) from 2-A/2-B (on the east). Here we picked up some shorebirds; ducks; Swamphens; and raptors, including a Crested Caracara and two Snail Kites. We soon discovered that this pair of Snail Kites were, themselves, nesting with young a very short distance over the canal. With this discovery, that levee will now be off-limits in addition to the other. Good news for the Kites but bad news for us.
Turning east, we came to wide open water with more ducks (especially Northern Shovelers), lots of American White Pelicans, and more shorebirds. At our first stop on this stretch we had a Merlin-on-a-mission, another Caracara on the fly, and heard Sora and Virginia Rail. Farther along -- at the observation deck -- we scoped and scoped and Paddy found the lone Cinnamon Teal in amongst the Blue-winged Teals. (Thanks to David Simpson for alerting us to the location.) It was easy to lose track of him but in the process of trying to relocate him, we found another loner -- a diving Gadwall.
We then headed north to search for the Tropical Kingbird that has been in residence all season. I misunderstood where it hangs out and we passed to the correct location. Paddy volunteered to double back and look for it where she had seen it in January and did find it. All of the drivers then had to test their three-point turnaround skills and we were successful -- with no cars in the canals. The Kingbird was very skittish and not particularly obliging but most in our group got glimpses of him on the Palm Beach side of the Miami Canal.
It was getting near the time we needed to be off the levees so we started back to the newly appointed exit gate (we couldn t backtrack past the Snail Kite nest). Margaret radioed us that a Gray Kingbird had been seen near our route so we took a slight detour to get him in addition to the Tropical. Those at the front of the caravan saw him briefly before he flew -- not to return.
Chapter 2
Two cars in our group needed to return home so off they went. The remaining 10 people, in 4 cars, stopped at the end of Deer Fence Canal Rd -- where CR-835 turns north -- to check for other Kingbirds and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers.
We had one here and one there but at the access drive into the agricultural facility, we hit gold! At least a half dozen Scissor-tailed Flycatchers flitted back and forth from the power lines to the low plants and probably more than a dozen Kingbirds -- both Western and Cassin s -- sallied out and back from the same power lines. (More thanks to Angel & Mariel Abreu and their friend -- who s name I didn t get -- for helping us differentiate between the two.)
Chapter 3
Our final leg of the Great Circle Trek took us north on CR-835 -- looking for raptors along the way -- to Blumberg Rd, where we looped around and headed south looking for more raptors. (Blumberg Rd, by the way, is the road to the original entrance to STA-5.)
The birds along this road are psychic! They are oblivious to the constant stream of huge sugar cane trucks carrying full loads north then returning empty to reload. But if a car of birders comes within a distance of two telephone poles, they fly. And where do they fly? -- two or three poles farther down. This made it extremely difficult to get confirming photos of any of these birds perched on top of the poles. We did, however, get brief views of many raptors, including Krider s Red-tailed Hawk and Peregrine Falcon.
We concluded the birding portion of our field trip at the cell phone tower at the intersection of CR-835 and Blumberg Rd where we picked up two more Caracaras and another Peregrine.
Chapter 4
All that remained of the exhausting Great Circle Trek was the return home via SR-80. We started out before dawn and got home long after sunset for a total of about 13 hours and around 250 miles.
Was it worth it? You bet your bippie it was!
Rick
Government Rd. (Broward Co.), Broward, US-FL
Mar 8, 2014 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM
Protocol: Traveling
25.0 mile(s)
Comments: Audubon Society of the Everglades field trip. 14 birders; 5 cars; Rick Schofield, leader.
Birding along Government / Snake Rd, CR-835, and CR-833 from I-75 to STA-5 with one stop at "the pond on the left".
31 species
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron (immature)
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Greater Yellowlegs
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
American Crow
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Palm Warbler
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17369056
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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Stormwater Treatment Area 5, Hendry, US-FL
Mar 8, 2014 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
12.25 mile(s)
Comments: Audubon Society of the Everglades field trip. Hosted by Hendry/Glades Audubon, Margaret England coordinator. 15 birders; 6 cars; Rick Schofield, leader; Paddy Cunningham, co-leader.
70 species
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal 1
Northern Shoveler (tons)
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
American White Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite
Northern Harrier
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Virginia Rail (heard)
Sora (heard)
Purple Swamphen
Purple Gallinule
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Limpkin
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Black Skimmer
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Tropical Kingbird 1
Gray Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo (heard)
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17364346
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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Deer Fence Canal Rd., Hendry, US-FL
Mar 8, 2014 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.5 mile(s)
Comments: Audubon Society of the Everglades field trip. 9 birders; 4 cars; Rick Schofield, leader.
5 species
Cassin's Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17365981
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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Blumberg Rd, Hendry, US-FL
Mar 8, 2014 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
20.0 mile(s)
Comments: Audubon Society of the Everglades field trip. 9 birders; 4 cars; Rick Schofield, leader.
16 species
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Egret
Cattle Egret
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk ("expected" Red-Tailed plus Krider's)
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Meadowlark
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S17366223
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
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