Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

Twenty-six birders joined Paul Bithorn and me today for the annual TAS trip to the Everglades Agricultural Area at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County. The group assembled at Everglades Recreation Park on US 27 in Broward County, then headed north on US 27, eventually crossing over the canal that parallels the highway and continuing north on the farm road on the east side of the canal. We encountered two coveys of Northern Bobwhite along the farm road, the first with six birds and the second with about double that number. Common Ground-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Barn, Tree and Northern-Rough-winged Swallow, Yellow Warbler and Eastern Meadowlark were among other birds spotted along the way. At the north end of the farm road, near the intersection of US 27 with CR 827, we explored rice fields where some of us obtained brief but up-close views of a King Rail. We also saw Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Purple Gallinule, Gray-headed Swamphen, a variety of waders, including Wood Stork, Glossy Ibis and Roseate Spoonbill and a flock of Bobolinks in or over the fields.

Along CR 827 about a half-mile west of US 27, we encountered our first Black-necked Stilts among the scattering of waders. At a pond on a farm road about a mile north, we flushed several Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, though one juvenile bird stayed put for the group. On the sod fields on the opposite side of the road, we found only Killdeer. Returning to US 27, then heading east on CR 827, we stopped at a flooded field just south of Belle Glade, where Kevin Sarsfield and Raul Urgelles pointed out an unusual whistling-duck they had just found among a flock of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks. The bird, which Keven photographed, appeared to be a White-faced/Fulvous Whistling-Duck hybrid. Other birds seen here included Mottled Duck, Semipalmated Plover, Pectoral and Stilt Sandpiper and Caspian Tern.

After an early fast-food lunch in Belle Glade, we headed east on CR 880 to flooded fields at Six-Mile Bend, just north of Browns Farm Road. Unfortunately, very little water remained and most of the shorebirds reported here earlier in the week were gone. Among those remaining were Ruddy Turnstone, Least, Semipalmated, and Western Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs. Gull-billed, Black and Least Terns were spotted among the Laughing Gulls and Wood Stork and Roseate Spoonbill were among the waders still present. On Browns Farm Road, a field about five miles south of CR 880 held a few shorebirds, including Pectoral Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher. At the pump house four miles farther south, we searched for but failed to find any of the Smooth-billed Anis reported from this location earlier in the week.

With threatening weather closing in, we made our final stop of the day at sod farms on Hutton Highway just south of CR 700, where we found at least a half-dozen Upland Sandpipers. Also present were Black-bellied Plover (including a few still in breeding plumage), Pectoral Sandpiper and the day's only Greater Yellowlegs.

Following are birds seen during the trip (apologies for any omissions):
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Mottled Duck
Northern Bobwhite
Rock Pigeon
Common Ground-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Nighthawk
King Rail
Common Gallinule
Purple Gallinule
Gray-headed Swamphen
Black-necked Stilt
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Upland Sandpiper
Ruddy Turnstone
Stilt Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Laughing Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Black Tern
Wood Stork
Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Belted Kingfisher
Monk Parakeet
Loggerhead Shrike
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Myna
Bobolink
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow