Posted by Paul Bithorn on October 30, 2016 at 21:19:31
Eight birders participated in Tropical Audubon Society's annual fall field trip to Shark Valley and Loop Road on Saturday, October 29, 2016. Blustery winds, overcast skies and lower humidity kept the weather conditions quite comfortable and we were able to dodge the intermittent, misty rains. Thankfully, mosquitoes were almost nonexistent. Water levels in both locations were extremely high so water-birds were at a minimum. Fifty-six (56) species, including eleven (11) warblers, were tallied including: Double-crested Cormorant Anhinga Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron White Ibis Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Red-shouldered Hawk Limpkin (Shark Valley) Kildeer Eurasian Collared-Dove Mourning Dove Common Ground-Dove Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Northern Flicker (Loop Road) Pileated Woodpecker American Kestrel Eastern Phoebe Great Crested Flycatcher White-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Tree Swallow Tufted Titmouse House Wren Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird European Starling Ovenbird Black-and-white Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Black-throated Green Prairie Warbler Palm Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-throated Warbler Northern Cardinal Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird Note: John Boyd and Ann Wiley spotted a rare Lapland Longspur on the drive back east on Loop Road after the group had split up. See the Birdboard for October 29th for details, including John’s excellent photograph. Several Dragonflies (including Green Skimmer, Black Saddlebag Skimmer and Halloween Pennants) Black Witch Moth Liguus Fasciatus FloridaTree Snails An unidentified small fruit tree with 1” diameter yellow fruit and notched leaves with small thorns at the base of each leaf stem was seen where we had lunch in the Loop Road Campground. The fruit has a large seed and is sweet. Don’t worry – it was not a deadly Manchineel tree. I have a photograph if anybody is interested in taking a shot at identifying it. It was probably the result of a camper throwing the seeds of the fruit into the West Indian Hardwood Hammock where it germinated. Life is good..........................exploring Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve.