Posted by Justin Miller on October 26, 2015 at 15:48:11
Just an update for Green Cay for anyone up this way. Weekend was very good - more migrants in the area, and the recent more rare sightings still sticking around. There are dozens of roseated spoonbill there, in case anyone is looking for a place to find them reliably...yesterday I counted over 20. The reddish egret is sticking around, and still very easy to find in the east side of the park. The Virginia rails also are sticking around - I heard them but couldn't find them on Saturday, but Sunday one came out in the open again. The American bitterns are pretty regular there now, along with the least bitterns still sticking around. Sora are finally back in bigger numbers - spotted at least 8 of them yesterday. An odd sighting was a lone juvenile cedar waxwing - not a bird I commonly see at Green Cay, but usually when I do it's a large flock of them...this one was alone. Warbler activity has been decent, but no real rarities - pine, palm, prairie, yellow-rumped, yellow-throated, common yellowthroat, black-throated blue, worm-eating, plus northern parulas and red-eyed vireo. Painted buntings are starting to fill in for the winter - went from 2-4 of them the past few weeks to 6-10 of them this weekend. Ovenbirds also a fairly reliable find. Raptor activity is up - a kestrel, lots of red-shouldered hawks, northern harrier, a few cooper's. So far, only the blue-winged teals seem to have returned duck-wise...still waiting for more duck species this winter.