Posted by Brian Rapoza on January 12, 2016 at 23:30:12
Late this afternoon, I was surprised to find six Wood Storks foraging along the lake that forms the northern border of my condo complex in Kendale Lakes. I've seen most of the wader species along this lake at one time or another, but never Wood Storks. Combine this with the 12/19 Miami-Dade CBC results, when more Wood Storks (by far) were counted than in any previous year for this CBC, and I'm wondering what's going on here. My guess is that it's just a short-term movement due to high water levels in their regular foraging areas, due to all the rain we're having this El Nino winter. It's also possible, though, that we're seeing the beginning of the urbanization of this species, similar to that of White Ibis. Is anyone else in suburban Miami-Dade seeing Wood Storks in their neighborhoods?