Posted by Alex Harper on August 24, 2015 at 13:17:38
Ben Woodard (Port St. Lucie) and I birded around South Florida this past weekend. Our two sought after birds for the weekend were Buff-breasted Sandpiper and Cerulean Warbler, two species which migrate annually through here in August but are rather rare. We would not catch up with either, but we had marquis birds nonetheless. Highlights on Saturday, 8/22: Black Point Marina: patience in the mangroves granted us looks at a Mangrove Cuckoo. Cutler Wetlands: calling Least Bittern, shorebirds included Solitary Sandpiper. The Annex: a couple Alder Flycatchers called to reveal their identity. White-crowned Pigeons, too. Agricultural Fields at intersection of SW 384th Street and SW224th Avenue (gravel, unmarked roads): Upland Sandpiper and a single Lark Sparrow. La Carreta Cuban restaurant: Bronzed Cowbirds A.D. Barnes: Short-tailed Hawk (light morph), Yellow-billed Cuckoo (homeless hammock), Black-whiskered Vireo (homeless hammock) among many Red-eyed Vireos, Prothonotary Warbler (boardwalk area), female Painted Bunting. Crandon Park, south beach entrance: shorebirds including Piping Plovers, Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Dolphin Mall: three Gray-headed (Purple) Swamphen Sparrow Fields: two White-tailed Kites Chekika: amphibians, snakes, Chuck-will's-widow Sunday, 8/23: Biscayne Park: adult Spot-breasted Oriole feeding fledgling. White-eyed and Red-masked Parakeets. Enchanted Forest Park: six species of warblers. We traveled up to western Palm Beach County, taking US-27 towards Belle Glade. At a flooded field just south of the radio tower along US-27 was a flooded field loaded with waders, terns, and shorebirds. An eBird list should summarize the stop pretty well. An "X" was used if the number of individuals was difficult to estimate: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S24731118 A couple other fields along Brown's Farm Road east of Belle Glade furnished more of the same in terms of diversity. An intense thunderstorm in the afternoon prevented us from continuing on Brown's Farm to an area where Corey Callaghan had as many as 15 Wilson's Phalaropes the day before. We chalked that endeavor up as a loss and we fled the storm heading east. Our last stop was the Marsh Trail at Loxahatchee NWR. We picked up Limpkins, Snail Kites, two adult Smooth-billed Anis, and a bonus flyover Bobolink which may be on the early side. We would end with 125 species over the two days. Alex Harper