Today we had two target locations that were recommended by several people including the sharp young birder we had met in STA 5/6. He had told us that these two places were his all time favourite birding places in Florida. Both Wakodahatchee Wetlands (on Jog Road) and Green Cay Wetlands (on Hagen Ranch Road are excellent modern boardwalk, mobility accessible wetlands. There were lots of birds and lots of people and both places are surprisingly free. They were both built around 2005.
But before we left our room, we had a ghost in our room! Somehow after several turns to the bathroom by each of us, the door to the bathroom got locked from the inside and No One was inside!! This is when we really picked up speed to giddy-up on our day and we simply used the bathroom in the lobby (who has time to call Housekeeping when one is in a hurry?). By the time we returned to our room at the end of the day, the ghost was gone and the bathroom door was open. The locks in this place are kind of weird. We could not get into our hotel room when we arrived the first night and the locks worked contrary to everyday logic, so this is just something similar in the bathroom. Anyways it was a laugh for us throughout the day.
We birded Wakadohatchee first. The elevated boardwalk is .4 of a mile long. The first thing we saw was a Black-crowned Night Heron and a Glossy Ibis. Then on the bushes a roost of dozens of Wood Stork couples. We listened to a volunteer take the group around the boardwalk and he said that these Wood Storks have already had their chicks and were finished breeding for the year. But the Great Blue Herons are just starting the breeding process so there are all kinds of skirmishes that break out over the common breeding bushes. It is just great to watch everything going on in the bird world. One Great Blue Heron brings in sticks for the nest. The Wood Stork pushed the Great Blue Heron off the nest. Great Blue Heron squawks guttural noises. We did not have time to stay and watch the commotion.
We continued on the boardwalk and we saw the Purple Swamp Hen, then another and another, there were about a dozen of them in this wetland. We saw them pull up horsetail-type weed and eat the juicy white stems. We had great looks at them. Every turn in the boardwalk brought another wader into view. Herons, Ibis, Storks and Limpkins. We enjoyed the place. There were several Iguanas; one in a tree, one on the ground and another by an alligator. The alligator ignored the iguana.
We then drove to Green Cay Wetland which are the settlement ponds for the system. We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot and went to the visitor center. On the way, Painted Buntings were at the feeders. The Butterfly Garden had many butterflies such as Monarch, Long-winged Zebras and a Common Peacock Butterfly. There was an extensive boardwalk that was a mile long. Colleen and Barbr both were keen to do the longer one mile boardwalk and it had more of the same birds. We had hoped to see a Yellow-crowned Night Heron but they must have been roosting out of sight. Of course we saw the ubiquitous American Alligator here like most places in Florida.
We finished the afternoon here and agreed that between these two places today, one can see pretty well every wader Florida has to offer. So I guess the major bird we did not see on this trip was the Florida Scrub Jay.
We had our last supper with Colleen and talked about our plan for tomorrow morning and to try to squeeze in some final birding spots before Colleen leaves us tomorrow at noon and returns to Lakeland and Paul by choo choo train. We are sad to see this holiday end so quickly, but there is always next time.
The bird of the day for Colleen was the Swamp Hen and being able to see it quite close. The bird of the day for Barbr was the Swamp Hen. I liked the Wood Stork couple on the bush. We laugh as we are talking about this as Barbr says that the Common Moorhen/Galinules fighting was pretty cool also.
So that was the day for us. Great memories were made.
Barbs & Colleen
But before we left our room, we had a ghost in our room! Somehow after several turns to the bathroom by each of us, the door to the bathroom got locked from the inside and No One was inside!! This is when we really picked up speed to giddy-up on our day and we simply used the bathroom in the lobby (who has time to call Housekeeping when one is in a hurry?). By the time we returned to our room at the end of the day, the ghost was gone and the bathroom door was open. The locks in this place are kind of weird. We could not get into our hotel room when we arrived the first night and the locks worked contrary to everyday logic, so this is just something similar in the bathroom. Anyways it was a laugh for us throughout the day.
We continued on the boardwalk and we saw the Purple Swamp Hen, then another and another, there were about a dozen of them in this wetland. We saw them pull up horsetail-type weed and eat the juicy white stems. We had great looks at them. Every turn in the boardwalk brought another wader into view. Herons, Ibis, Storks and Limpkins. We enjoyed the place. There were several Iguanas; one in a tree, one on the ground and another by an alligator. The alligator ignored the iguana.
We then drove to Green Cay Wetland which are the settlement ponds for the system. We had a picnic lunch in the parking lot and went to the visitor center. On the way, Painted Buntings were at the feeders. The Butterfly Garden had many butterflies such as Monarch, Long-winged Zebras and a Common Peacock Butterfly. There was an extensive boardwalk that was a mile long. Colleen and Barbr both were keen to do the longer one mile boardwalk and it had more of the same birds. We had hoped to see a Yellow-crowned Night Heron but they must have been roosting out of sight. Of course we saw the ubiquitous American Alligator here like most places in Florida.
We finished the afternoon here and agreed that between these two places today, one can see pretty well every wader Florida has to offer. So I guess the major bird we did not see on this trip was the Florida Scrub Jay.
We had our last supper with Colleen and talked about our plan for tomorrow morning and to try to squeeze in some final birding spots before Colleen leaves us tomorrow at noon and returns to Lakeland and Paul by choo choo train. We are sad to see this holiday end so quickly, but there is always next time.
The bird of the day for Colleen was the Swamp Hen and being able to see it quite close. The bird of the day for Barbr was the Swamp Hen. I liked the Wood Stork couple on the bush. We laugh as we are talking about this as Barbr says that the Common Moorhen/Galinules fighting was pretty cool also.
So that was the day for us. Great memories were made.
Barbs & Colleen
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