Bird Board
Limpkin and Gray Headed Swamphen RFI
Posted by John Facchini
almost 5 years ago
3 Comments
I will be visiting the Fort Lauderdale area next weekend and am hoping to cross paths with a Limpkin and a Gray Headed Swamphen. I plan on birding Loxahatchee at sunrise and am wondering if there are any areas in particular that I should focus my efforts.
I;d appreciate any other locations that may be worth trying (especially if they're more reliable than Loxahatchee as I have limited time).
Thanks in advance,
John Facchini
San Francisco
Comments
Wakodahatchee Wetlands, this place is also in West Palm Beach and both provide nearly guaranteed views of Swamphens and Limpkins. Wakodahatchee in particular has these birds tend to be big show off species along with a resident Neotropic Cormorant, over half a dozen of breeding wading birds, and many other sought-after Southern species like Roseate Spoonbill, Purple Gallinule and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck.
Unless you're looking for Snail Kites, it's better to go early to this place and look for these birds there, since they are easy to see and photograph, plus there is no entrance fee like you would in Loxahatchee.
Plantation Preserve, on Broward Boulevard west of Ft. Lauderdale, has both species. In southern Palm Beach County, Wakodahatchee and Green Cay Wetlands are also good bets.
Ditto on the Wakadohatchee as a place for the swamphens and other listed by Luis, although I didn't see the Limpkin there. I had that at Fairchild Garden in Coral Gables. Don't bother going to the spots listed in the ABA/Lane guide for the swamphens. They aren't at either Pembroke Pines locations anymore. You'll love the above location but there are a lot of people who go there so it can get crowded and the lot can get filled up so the earlier the better. Even with all the people there you'll see loads of birds.
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