Posted by Brian Rapoza on August 28, 2016 at 11:13:09
Twenty-five birders joined Paul Bithorn and me for yesterday’s carpool trip to the Everglades Agricultural Area in Palm Beach County. The group assembled pre-dawn at Sawgrass Recreation Park on US 27 in Broward County; a Killdeer walking around the parking area was our first bird of the trip. Though we experienced threatening skies, including flashes of lightning, for a good part of the day, it never rained on us during seven very productive hours of birding. Our first stop in the EAA was at a flooded but still vegetation-covered field south of King Ranch on the east side of US 27. When we arrived, large numbers of waders including Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, Black-crowned Night-Heron and various other herons, egrets and ibis were concentrated around a ditch along the southern edge of the field. Astounding numbers of waders, mostly Glossy Ibis, were feeding throughout the field while huge flocks of blackbirds were gathered along the edges. Other birds seen while in this area included Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Cooper’s Hawk, Purple Swamphen, Black-necked Stilt, Caspian Tern, Barn Swallow and Yellow Warbler. It was an awe-inspiring assemblage of birds and a sight we always hope for on this trip. Thanks to Bruce Pickholtz and Steve Kaplan for alerting us to this location. Just as we were heading north again on US 27, our advance scouting party, led by Kevin Sarsfield, alerted us about a spot along a side road on the west side of US 27 where they found a nice variety of shorebirds, including Solitary Sandpiper. By the time the group arrived, most of the birds had disappeared, apparently scattered by a farm vehicle. A few returned, including Spotted Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone and Least Sandpiper. Our next scheduled stop was at Six-Mile Bend on CR 880; along the way, we added Common Nighthawk along CR 827A and Laughing Gull and Common Myna in Belle Glade. Several Black-bellied Plover were on the sod fields at Six-Mile Bend; a Crested Caracara flying over the fields was an unexpected find. Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Bank Swallows were seen at flooded fields on Browns Farm Road, just west of the sod fields. Only a few Brown-headed Cowbirds were at the Sem Chi rice plant. Gull-billed and Black Terns were in a flooded field on the opposite side of the road from the rice plant. A couple of Purple Martins were spotted overhead. A stop at STA 1W added two Ruddy Ducks and a heard-only Least Bittern. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, Prairie Warbler and Common Yellowthroat were found in vegetation around the parking lot. More Gull-billed and Black Terns were seen during quick drive along Gladeview Road. At sod fields along Hatton Highway north of SR 80, we found three distant Upland Sandpipers. On New Vandergrift Road near the intersection of SR 80 and SR 98, another large assemblage of waders, mostly Wood Storks, continued in the flooded fields. Gull-billed and Black Terns were actively feeding in a ditch that crossed the field. Flocks of American White Pelican and Roseate Spoonbill as well as scattered shorebirds, including Semipalmated Plover, Black-necked Stilt, both yellowlegs, Pectoral, Stilt, Semipalmated, Western and Least Sandpipers and dowitcher sp. were found on the opposite side of the fields. A lone Least Tern was also seen there, our last stop before a late lunch in Belle Glade. We ended the day with about 70 species, including about 15 species of shorebirds.