South Florida Trip ~ February 11, 2022

I had to be at the Fort Lauderdale Airport by 1 PM, so I still had the morning free to bird. Fulvous Whistling-Ducks had been reported at Stormwater Treatment Area '1W' near Twentymile Bend, so I headed over there to check it out. The large bodies of water there held Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Mottled and Ring-necked Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, and Common Gallinule among around 80 American White Pelicans and a thousand American Coots. Other notables included a Killdeer, 3 Caspian Terns, Anhinga, Double-crested Cormorant, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Red-shouldered Hawk, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Rough-winged and Tree Swallow, and the expected numerous Palm Warblers. Waders included Gray-headed Swamphen, Limpkin, Wood Stork, Great Blue Heron, Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egret, Tricolored and Green Heron, Glossy Ibis, and Roseate Spoonbill. Unfortunately, the Fulvous Whistling-Ducks were not found. The bird that most surprised me, though, was a Black Skimmer that was zooming back and forth in one of the many huge impoundments.

Black Skimmer

I drove to the airport, returned my rental car with 753 more miles on it, boarded my flight, and drove home from Philadelphia, getting home around 8 PM. I found 103 species during the six days, recording two life birds and a possible third if the munias are ever accepted as countable. Many more photos can be found in my Florida Photo Album.

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Florida ~ February 6-11, 2022

1) Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
2) Mottled Duck
3) Green-winged Teal
4) Northern Shoveler
5) Blue-winged Teal
6) Ring-necked Duck
7) Egyptian Goose
8) Common Loon
9) Least Grebe
10) Pied-billed Grebe
11) Magnificent Frigatebird
12) Northern Gannet
13) American White Pelican
14) Brown Pelican
15) Anhinga
16) Double-crested Cormorant
17) American Bittern
18) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
19) Black-crowned Night-Heron
20) Green Heron
21) Tricolored Heron
22) Little Blue Heron
23) Cattle Egret
24) Snowy Egret
25) Great Egret
26) Great Blue Heron
27) Wood Stork
28) Glossy Ibis
29) White Ibis
30) Roseate Spoonbill
31) Turkey Vulture
32) Black Vulture
33) Osprey
34) Snail Kite
35) Northern Harrier
36) Cooper's Hawk
37) Red-shouldered Hawk
38) American Kestrel
39) Limpkin
40) Sora
41) Purple Gallinule
42) Gray-headed Swamphen
43) Common Gallinule
44) American Coot
45) Sandhill Crane
46) Piping Plover
47) Killdeer
48) Willet
49) Solitary Sandpiper
50) Spotted Sandpiper
51) Ruddy Turnstone
52) Sanderling
53) Wilson's Snipe
54) Laughing Gull
55) Ring-billed Gull
56) Herring Gull
57) Lesser Black-backed Gull
58) Royal Tern
59) Caspian Tern
60) Black Skimmer
61) Rock Pigeon
62) Zenaida Dove ***
63) Mourning Dove
64) Eurasian Collared-Dove
65) White-winged Dove
66) Common Ground Dove
67) Chuck-will's-widow
68) Belted Kingfisher
69) Red-bellied Woodpecker
70) Eastern Phoebe
71) Vermilion Flycatcher
72) Great Crested Flycatcher
73) Tropical Kingbird
74) Loggerhead Shrike
75) White-eyed Vireo
76) Thick-billed Vireo ***
77) Blue-headed Vireo
78) Blue Jay
79) Fish Crow
80) Tree Swallow
81) Purple Martin
82) Northern Rough-winged Swallow
83) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
84) Gray Catbird
85) Northern Mockingbird
86) European Starling
87) Northern Parula
88) Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler
89) Black-and-white Warbler
90) Yellow-throated Warbler
91) Prairie Warbler
92) Palm Warbler
93) Ovenbird
94) Common Yellowthroat
95) Northern Cardinal
96) Blue Grosbeak
97) Indigo Bunting
98) Painted Bunting
99) Red-winged Blackbird
100) Common Grackle
101) Boat-tailed Grackle
102) House Sparrow
103) Tricolored Munia

*** denotes life bird.

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