Wakodahatchee Wetlands – Far and away the best spot in this location. Parking can be an issue, so I would recommend arriving before sunrise. I arrived a few minutes after 7 and got the last parking spot. Very close experiences with almost all of the birds I saw. Great experiences with Purple Gallinule, Gray-headed Swamphen, Wood Storks & Cattle Egrets (copulation). If I had been free in the evening I would have gone back – I was told the roosting that happens there is pretty amazing. No services, but it was free so no complaints.
Black-crowned Night Heron greeted me at the entrance.
Wood Storks Galore!
Great Egret shows off its plumes
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Great Blue Heron -- I have never seen this side of one before...
It's better end...
Green Heron
Gray-headed Swamphen
Big Lizard...
Anhinga
Glossy Ibis
Purple Gallinule
Cattle Egrets mating
Green Cay Wetlands & Nature Center – Similar to Wakodahatchee, but bigger and less intimate. There are good bathrooms there but the parking lot is BIG and it’s a walk into them. On the way to the restrooms are the feeders which regularly attract a number of Painted Buntings. There were 4 the day I was there and the feeders are only about 8 feet from the walkway. The Nature Center is not always open, so if you are interested in that, be sure to check first. I did not walk past the boardwalk around the nature center. I didn’t have new birds to see there, so I left.
Female Painted Bunting
Male Painted Bunting
Plantation Central Park – this was not on my initial list. A woman I chatted with at Wakodahatchee Wetlands recommended it over Brian Piccolo Park for Burrowing Owls. It was about 20 miles closer & also had Egyptian Geese which I hadn’t seen yet. It is a very active public park – lots of walkers & pickleball players even in early morning. Regardless, it was a good place for a car bird. The Owls were close to the road and seemed oblivious to people walking and driving by. There are restrooms and it is free – worth a look just for the Owls if you are in the area.
Burrowing Owls
Egyptian Goose
White-winged Dove
Looking for Exotics – If I were to do this over again I would either skip it, or hire a guide (Larry Manfredi) for the day or ½ day. I felt like I was wandering aimlessly using old information. It is likely I was searching at the wrong time (Mid-morning) and should have been there either very early or late. These are the two places I hit.
Biscayne Gardens - https://ebird.org/checklist/S127831723 Miami Shores - https://ebird.org/checklist/S127832366
This was the best I did that day in Biscayne Gardens -- an American Kestrel that attacked a Red-shouldered Hawk. The twice as big Red-shouldered Hawk won.
Red-shouldered Hawk
American Kestrel on the attack
Red-shouldered Hawk prepares its defenses.
Ready
Go!
Well, that's that.
Florida Atlantic University Ecological Site – This is another site that is good for Burrowing Owls and American Kestrel. In addition, when I was there the trail had recent sightings of a Bell’s Vireo (which I saw) and a Brown-crested Flycatcher (which I did not see). It’s a very sandy trail and there is basically NO information on it, either on-line or on-site. That makes me uncomfortable, so I only went in about 1/3 mile.
Burrowing Owls
American Kestrel
The Transcendence Portal on the trail -- LOVE IT! Also the location where I saw the Bell's Vireo.
Loxahatchee NWR – I suspect this would have been better in the early morning, but that wasn’t in the cards. I walked the Cypress Swamp Boardwalk trail – which was basically a waste of time. I think I saw a Sora grazing, but didn’t get a good enough look to take it. I didn’t include the Boardwalk in my checklist. It is what I would call disappointing, not a lot of volume or diversity, but it was fine. Not sure I would return – I would have preferred to visit Wakodahatchee again.
Limpkin
Boat-tailed Grackle with a raised tail (think this might be mating behavior)
Female Boat-tailed Grackle responding in-kind
Anhinga
Purple Gallinule
Great Egret with Breeding lores
Oceanfront Beach Park/Boynton Beach Inlet – Although I saw my only Northern Gannett here, it was not very birdy. Perhaps it was because it was windy – to park you have to pay, so I just sat in my car.
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