Posted by John Hutchison on February 17, 2020 at 00:12:03
A large group of 23 birders, in seasonable weather, participated in this trip. As we started at Shark Valley we were immediately greeted by a calling King Rail. During our walk the group got good looks at almost all wading birds, including a close fly-by of a Roseate Spoonbill. Then the group started a 12 vehicle motorcade to Loop Road. Along the road we recorded 10 species of warblers, highlighted by 4 Black Throated Green and 1 Northern Waterthrush (heard). At the Tree Snail Trail Education Center we saw 2 Sandhill Cranes. During the drive we got good views of early migrating Swallowtail Kites (3). This trip had an unusually high count of Tufted Titouse (7). After completing the loop the group split up, and Jim Barnes and I added a Snail Kite at the western most airboat concession. Total number of species for the day =58.