Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

Eighteen birders joined me for today's tour of A1 Flow Equalization Basin in the Everglades Agricultural Area of Palm Beach County. Participants learned how this 15,000-acre shallow reservoir is used to capture and temporarily store peak stormwater flows, holding water up to 4 feet deep, and how that water is directed to two nearby Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) to improve the ability of the treatment wetlands to remove nutrients such as phosphorus from the water before it is sent to the Everglades. A1-FEB also benefits wildlife, in particular, birds. During our tour, we tallied the following 62 species:
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Gadwall
Mottled Duck
Ring-necked Duck
Pied-billed Grebe
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Sora
Common Gallinule
Purple Gallinule
American Coot
Gray-headed Swamphen
Limpkin
Killdeer
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Wilson's Snipe
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Caspian Tern
Wood Stork
Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
American Bittern (at least seven!)
Least Bittern (heard)
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Hern
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Snail Kite
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
American Kestrel
Merlin
Eastern Phoebe
Tree Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
House Wren (heard)
Marsh Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Savannah Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow (heard)
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Indigo Bunting