Posted by Brian Rapoza on February 06, 2016 at 22:32:25
Several TAS birders joined today's carpool tour of Stormwater Treatment Area 1E in Wellington, Palm Beach County. The trip was led by Chuck Weber and Rick Schofield from Audubon of the Everglades. Over 30 birders participated in today's tour. The group was treated to close-up views of a large flock of Black Skimmers and Caspian Terns resting in the middle of the road! The flock also included a few Gull-billed and Forster's Terns. Limpkin and Gray-headed Swamphen were abundant; we also had good looks at a number of Snail Kites. Here's a list of birds I know were seen or heard during the tour: Black-bellied-Whistling-Duck Fulvous Whistling-Duck Mottled Duck American Wigeon Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Ring-necked Duck Pied-billed Grebe American White Pelican Double-crested Cormorant Anhinga Least Bittern (heard) Great Blue Heron Great White Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron White Ibis Glossy Ibis Roseate Spoonbill Wood Stork Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Snail Kite Northern Harrier Red-shouldered Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Sora (heard) Purple Gallinule Common Gallinule American Coot Gray-headed Swamphen Limpkin Killdeer Black-necked Stilt Greater Yellowlegs Spotted Sandpiper Ring-billed Gull Gull-billed Tern Caspian Tern Forster's Tern Black Skimmer White-winged Dove Mourning Dove Common Ground-Dove Monk Parakeet American Kestrel Merlin Peregrine Falcon Belted Kingfisher Pileated Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe White-eyed Vireo Fish Crow Tree Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow House Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Gray Catbird Yellow-rumped Warbler Palm Warbler Common Yellowthroat Savannah Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Northern Cardinal Red-winged Blackbird Eastern Meadowlark Boat-tailed Grackle After the tour, many of us drove out to Sem-Chi rice plant, hoping to see Yellow-headed Blackbirds. All we found was a large flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds with a couple of House Sparrows mixed in.