On Saturday, November 4, twenty-eight birders joined TAS field trip leaders John Hutchison and Bruce Pickholtz for a full day of birding at Green Cay and Wakodahatchee Wetlands in southern Palm Beach County. The birding at Green Cay was so productive that we ended up spending the entire morning there! Notable sightings included several Sora and Least Bittern, an American Bittern and a couple of Marsh Wrens. In all, 54 species were tallied at Green Cay, including Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, White-winged Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Purple Gallinule, Gray-headed Swamphen, Greater Yellowlegs, Wood Stork, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Northern Harrier, Cooper’s Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Piliated Woodpecker, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Phoebe and seven warblers: Common Yellowthroat, plus Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue, Palm, Pine, Yellow-rumped and Prairie Warblers.
Those of us who planned to continue birding into the afternoon took a lunch break at Lake Biwa Pavilion near Morikami Park, where we added Red-tailed Hawk, American Kestrel and Loggerhead Shrike to our trip list. Bird activity at Wakodahatchee Wetlands was somewhat slow, but we still managed to find a few birds not seen at Green Cay, including Snowy Egret, Osprey, Downy Woodpecker, Nanday Parakeet, American Redstart, Northern Parula and Yellow-throated Warbler.
An eBird trip report, listing the trip’s 64 species along with checklists for each stop can be viewed here.
Marsh Wren: Photo courtesy of Michael Perez