Posted by Brian Rapoza on August 26, 2018 at 01:32:22
Twenty-six birders joined Paul Bithorn and me today for the annual TAS trip to the Everglades Agricultural Area at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County. The group assembled at Everglades Recreation Park on US 27 in Broward County, then headed north on US 27, eventually crossing over the canal that parallels the highway and continuing north on the farm road on the east side of the canal. We encountered two coveys of Northern Bobwhite along the farm road, the first with six birds and the second with about double that number. Common Ground-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Barn, Tree and Northern-Rough-winged Swallow, Yellow Warbler and Eastern Meadowlark were among other birds spotted along the way. At the north end of the farm road, near the intersection of US 27 with CR 827, we explored rice fields where some of us obtained brief but up-close views of a King Rail. We also saw Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Purple Gallinule, Gray-headed Swamphen, a variety of waders, including Wood Stork, Glossy Ibis and Roseate Spoonbill and a flock of Bobolinks in or over the fields. Along CR 827 about a half-mile west of US 27, we encountered our first Black-necked Stilts among the scattering of waders. At a pond on a farm road about a mile north, we flushed several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, though one juvenile bird stayed put for the group. On the sod fields on the opposite side of the road, we found only Killdeer. Returning to US 27, then heading east on CR 827, we stopped at a flooded field just south of Belle Glade, where Kevin Sarsfield and Raul Urgelles pointed out an unusual whistling-duck they had just found among a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. The bird, which Keven photographed, appeared to be a White-faced/Fulvous Whistling-Duck hybrid. Other birds seen here included Mottled Duck, Semipalmated Plover, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper and Caspian Tern. After an early fast-food lunch in Belle Glade, we headed east on CR 880 to flooded fields at Six-Mile Bend, just north of Browns Farm Road. Unfortunately, very little water remained and most of the shorebirds reported here earlier in the week were gone. Among those remaining were Ruddy Turnstone, Least, Semipalmated, and Western Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs. Gull-billed, Black and Least Terns were spotted among the Laughing Gulls and Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill were among the waders still present. On Browns Farm Road, a field about five miles south of CR 880 held a few shorebirds, including Pectoral Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher. At the pump house four miles farther south, we searched for but failed to find any of the Smooth-billed Anis reported from this location earlier in the week. With threatening weather closing in, we made our final stop of the day at sod farms on Hutton Highway just south of CR 700, where we found at least a half-dozen Upland Sandpipers. Also present were Black-bellied Plover (including a few still in breeding plumage), Pectoral Sandpiper and the day's only Greater Yellowlegs. Following are birds seen during the trip (apologies for any omissions): Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Fulvous Whistling Duck Mottled Duck Northern Bobwhite Rock Pigeon Common Ground-Dove Mourning Dove Common Nighthawk King Rail Common Gallinule Purple Gallinule Gray-headed Swamphen Black-necked Stilt Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Killdeer Upland Sandpiper Ruddy Turnstone Stilt Sandpiper Least Sandpiper Pectoral Sandpiper Semipalmated Sandpiper Western Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher Greater Yellowlegs Lesser Yellowlegs Laughing Gull Least Tern Gull-billed Tern Caspian Tern Black Tern Wood Stork Anhinga Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Green Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron White Ibis Glossy Ibis Roseate Spoonbill Black Vulture Turkey Vulture Osprey Red-shouldered Hawk Belted Kingfisher Monk Parakeet Loggerhead Shrike Blue Jay Fish Crow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Northern Mockingbird European Starling Common Myna Bobolink Eastern Meadowlark Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Common Yellowthroat Yellow Warbler Northern Cardinal House Sparrow