October 13, 1994
Sunny and beautiful
This was my first dedicated birding excursion in Florida, and I came closer to many birds than I’ve ever been before! Loxahatchee is a wonderful place to bird. It’s a series of everglade marsh areas surrounded by raised impoundments from which the marsh can be viewed. The impoundments are laid out in a grid, so you basically wander around squares of wetland.
The first birds of the day were ☆Common Gallinule☆ (aka Moorhen). Adults and juveniles were abundant here, and I would see many more in other Everglades locations. One of my favorite sightings of the day also happened early in the morning, when I saw a small flock of ☆Limpkin☆ across the lake. These large birds seemed pretty shy . . . later in the day, when I came back around to this location, they were gone, and I never saw others. They’re very unusual in appearance, and look like gigantic shorebirds. I enjoyed seeing these fairly uncommon birds.
I saw multiple species of heron today, including my first ☆Tricolored Heron☆. These beautiful birds amazed me with how calm they were about my presence. Generally, they did not move along when I came by, but just continued about their business. Really pretty birds. The Little Blue Heron here are also not particularly shy. I got plenty of good, close looks, and learned to differentiate them from the Tricoloreds.
Another favorite thing today was a great many American Alligator, including several juveniles, some of which were only about 8 inches long (SO ADORABLE)! On the other end of the spectrum, I also heard the booming roar of what must have been a LARGE adult. (Fortunately, he was calling from within one of the swampy areas, not right beside the path where I was walking, or I might have been a bit nervous for my safety). lmpressivel
Saw my first ☆American White Ibis☆ today: a flock of several birds flying overhead. Later, I saw several adult and juveniles foraging across the lake from the trails. Very exotic-looking and pretty. The ☆Glossy Ibis☆ is another beautiful bird, and I saw several of these in the wetlands, as well.
I had a wonderfully close encounter with an Anhinga today, certainly my closest encounter to date with one of these exquisite birds. After walking the trails a while, I decided to sit down and write in my journal. As I headed toward a bench, I noticed a male Anhinga sunning himself on a branch very nearby. I figured he would leave as soon as I got there, but he didn’t. He stayed right where he was – about 10 feet away from where I was sitting – the entire time I was there. Awesome!
About the time I was finishing up with my journal, two women who were obviously birding came by and we struck up a conversation. One of them (Chris) was an ornithologist, and they invited me to wander through the refuge with them for a little while. A ☆Mottled Duck☆ was swimming in the large pond near the entrance to the canal trails. I would not have been able to identify it on my own, but Chris had no problem with it.
After I’d parted company with Elaine and Chris, I saw a pair of ☆Palm Warbler☆ in the middle of the path along the canals. It took me a while to figure out this sprightly character, but I eventually realized that it was NOT a sparrow after all, but a warbler. Then, the way it wagged its little tail helped me to be certain of the identification of this winter-plumaged bird. Very cute!
This was a lovely trip, and I am reminded that I need to do this more often. It keeps me sane!
Species List
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata cachinnans), Limpkin (Aramus guarauna pictus), Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor ruficollis), Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias wardi), Great Egret (Ardea alba egretta), Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus), American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas ignota), American White Ibis (Eudocimus albus albus), Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus), Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos polyglottos), Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis ibis), Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga leucogaster), Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula fulvigula), Green Heron (Butorides virescens virescens), Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum hypochrysea), Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus meernsi), Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major westoni), American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), American Coot (Fulica americana americana), Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura septentrionalis), Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus extimus), Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus vociferus), Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon), Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata semplei), possible Swainson’s Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Let me know what you think!