Thirty birders joined Bill Boeringer and Brian Rapoza for Tropical Audubon Society's annual Everglades Agricultural Area birding tour, kicking off TAS's 2022-23 field trip season. Among the group were four other TAS field trip leaders: John Boyd, Nancy Freedman, Luis Gonzalez and Raul Urgelles. We began the tour on the west side of US 27 at A1-Flow Equalization Basin (A1-FEB). Due to ongoing construction, half of the driving loop around A1-FEB was closed, so we only explored the impoundments at the south end. Tour attendees tallied forty-two bird species during our visit, including Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, King Rail, Gray-headed Swamphen, Limpkin, Black-necked Stilt, Long-billed Dowitcher, both yellowlegs, Wood Stork, American Bittern, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Purple Martin, Cliff Swallow, Eastern Meadowlark and Yellow Warbler.
We then drove north on US 27 to Bolles Canal Road (CR 827). A Swallow-tailed Kite was seen by Raul Urgelles along the way. Our intention was to drive west on CR 827 to the Barn Owl roost along the Miami Canal, an area I hadn't visited in many years. I was surprised to discover that a gate had been constructed across the road where the pavement ends, preventing us from getting to the Barn Owl roost from this direction. Almost immediately after everyone turned around and began driving back east, a Barn Owl was spotted flying east along the south side of the road, providing excellent looks and eliminating the need to get to the roost! A Gray Kingbird was also seen on the way back. Where power lines cross CR 827, we turned north onto an unpaved farm road, then turned east in about a mile, stopping at a pond on the north side of the road to see what was present. We found at least three more Yellow Warblers there. Black-bellied Plover and Least Tern were seen on the sod fields on the south side of the road.
It was getting close to noon, so we all drove to Belle Glade for a lunch break. Common Nighthawks were seen perched on power lines along the way. Common Mynas were among the birds seen when we all reassembled after lunch at the Big Lake shopping center. From Belle Glade, we headed east on CR 880, stopping first at the 6-Mile Bend sod fields near the intersection with Browns Farm Road. Upland Sandpipers are often reported there during August, but none were seen during our visit. As we were about to determine where to go next, we got a phone call from Raul Urgelles. He had taken it upon himself to drive down Browns Farm Road to see if there were still any flooded fields in that area. He couldn't find any, so it was decided to continue east on CR 880 to Gladeview Road.
We found a number of shorebirds in a ditch on the west side of Gladeview Road, including our first Pectoral Sandpipers of the day. Black-bellied and Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were seen in the rice fields on the east side of the road. On and around sod fields farther south on Gladeview, we found a Willet as well as many more Pectoral Sandpipers, but once again, no Upland Sandpipers. We drove all the way to the gate at the south end of Gladeview, but fields that were flooded and filled with shorebirds during our visit last year were dry and devoid of birds today. On our way back to CR 880, we reunited with Raul, who reported seeing a few Gull-billed Terns in and over the fields. We then decided to look for Upland Sandpipers at one more area of sod fields before calling it a day. These fields were located on Hatton Highway, north of US 441 near the intersection with CR 700. Lots of Cattle Egrets were present, but no Upland Sandpipers.
We ended the day with 57 bird species, plus five additional species seen only by Raul Urgelles. A complete list, along with individual checklists for locations visited can be viewed in the eBird trip report. All eBird checklists were compiled and submitted by Luis Gonzalez.
Photo of Pectoral Sandpipers by Luis Gonzalez.