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12/10/11
Birders’ Heaven: A visit to wetlands of Green Cay and Wakodahatchee
Filed under: General, Birding & Outdoors, Florida & SE US, Birding "Patches"
Posted by: Ken @ 12:23 pm

Birds and birders flock to some unseemly places. As a kid in New Jersey, one of my favorite birdwatching areas was an open dump in the Hackensack Meadows. If the wind was right its odor carried up to a mile. Aside from the innumerable gulls, crows and rats it attracted, its remote location provided ideal habitat for sparrows and raptors. Happy to say, that very dump gained the more respectable name of “landfill,” grew to become “Mount Trashmore, ” and now my mountainous “dump” is known as Kingsland Outlook, part of Richard W. DeKorte Park, famous as a birding hotspot  
 
My first duty assignment after I got drafted in 1966 was El Paso, Texas. Here, the Fort Bliss sewage ponds provided a large expanse of water, an oasis in the desert environment that attracted a great variety of water birds. In those days, the stench from the primary treatment basin was often unbearable, but cattails grew around the clear water in the settlement ponds, and surrounding shrubs and trees harbored resident and migrant land birds. Back in those days, these wetlands seemed a hidden gem, where I rarely met another birder, but now they enjoy the prominence accorded to a major wildlife refuge.

Two of the most accessible and spectacular locations to easily see a representative sample of South Florida’s wetland birds are less than an hour’s drive from our home, and both are sewage treatment areas. Located not far from each other in western Palm County, they are Green Cay and Wakodahatchee Wetlands. Since both are on very large tracts of land, the tertiary settlement ponds are crystal clear and far removed from  the primary treatment plants. Both have extensive and well-maintained boardwalks that traverse open wetlands and hardwood islands.

This past weekend I visited both, beginning at Green Cay, where a Bobcat with four very young kittens had delighted photographers only a few days before. See Florida Blume’s Flickr slideshow of the mother and her cute little cubs at this link.

We failed to see the Bobcats, but, as usual, we were overwhelmed visually by the number and variety of birds that surrounded us as we followed the boardwalk across the wetlands.

Near the entrance, a conglomeration of coots dabbled in the duckweed.

Conglomeration of Coots 20111204

Common Gallinules (ah, that echo from the past sounds better than “moorhens”) were second in abundance only to the American Coots.

Common Gallinules

Ducks paraded by, two by two, starting with a pair of Mottled Ducks…

Mottled Ducks 20111204

…followed by a pair of Green-winged Teal…

Green-winged Teal 20111204

…and a couple of male Blue-winged Teal.

Blue-winged Teal 2-20111204

A lone Roseate Spoonbill lifted up in the distance and flew out of sight.

Roseate Spoonbill 20111204

Several birders had long discussions about the identity of this juvenile raptor, sitting on a berm. Was it a Broad-winged or a Red-Shouldered Hawk? The dilemma was solved when the bird took flight, as it showed comma-shaped white sub-terminal wing patches, characteristic of the latter species.

Red-shouldered hawk 2-20111204

Red-shouldered hawk 20111204

An immature (as indicated by its orange underparts)  Northern Harrier gave me fits as it swept by repeatedly. I so wanted to get a front-end photo of its owl-like facial disks, but it moved so fast that I couldn’t focus properly each time it sped towards me. I had to settle for passing shots.

Northern Harrier 09-20111204

This Snowy Egret was nicely back-lighted,

Snowy Egret 20111204

Green legs and a black-tipped gray bill distinguished this immature Little Blue Heron from the egrets.

Little Blue Heron immature 2-20111204

An Anhinga flew over.

Anhinga 20111204

Double-crested Cormorants were nesting near the boardwalk.

Cormorant on nest 20111204

A young cormorant flashed its emerald-green eyes.

Eye of the cormorant 20111204

Several Painted Buntings enjoyed the seed that had spilled out under one of the feeders.

Painted Bunting 20111204

At Wakodahatchee, an acrobatic Purple Gallinule sported some of the same colors as the bunting (click on photo to select more images of the gallinule’s gymnastic talents as it climbed up to pick flowers and seeds).

Purple Gallinule 2-20111204

The eyes of an otherwise submerged Soft-shelled Turtle broke the surface tension of the still water.

Turtle eyes detail 20111204

A flock of over a dozen Pine Warblers foraged in the parking lot at Green Cay…

Pine Warbler 2-20111204

…devouring insects they gleaned from the very tips of the Slash Pine branches.

Pine Warbler immature at work 20111204

An immature female Pine Warbler exhibited more somber plumage.

Pine Warbler immature female 2-20111204

14 Responses to “Birders’ Heaven: A visit to wetlands of Green Cay and Wakodahatchee”

  1. Smith Says:
    December 11th, 2011 at 1:08 pm Fantastic !
  2. Pat Says:
    December 11th, 2011 at 7:14 pm Fabulous shots, as usual Ken! I was really struck by the green eye of the Cormorant youngster!
  3. Bevin Beaudet Says:
    December 13th, 2011 at 9:31 am Very nice. The Roseate Spoonbill in flight is awesome, and I liked the gymnastic Purple Gallinule.
  4. holdingmoments Says:
    December 13th, 2011 at 12:27 pm Fantastic shots Ken. What a great selection. Certainly is birders heaven.
  5. Andrew Says:
    December 13th, 2011 at 1:06 pm What a wonderful post to see. Beautiful wildlife to see.. all the Coots and “Moorhens” I from England lol.. But the one bird I can never get over seeing when someone shares it is the Painted Bunting.. It’s a fantastic little bird to see and it couldn’t have been called anything else.
  6. Boom & Gary Says:
    December 13th, 2011 at 2:22 pm Great sequence as usual!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
  7. Eileen Says:
    December 13th, 2011 at 5:08 pm Great collection of birds! I will always love the Painted Bunting, they are gorgeous birds. Your flight shots are awesome, I especially liked the Spoonbill. Awesome photos.
  8. Barb Says:
    December 13th, 2011 at 7:53 pm Completely amazing collection of photos!
  9. springman Says:
    December 14th, 2011 at 10:09 am Staggering is the beauty of Florida bird life. What a pleasure when fighting with our leaden skies to see your exquisitely lit photographs. Your sense of composition is excellent too and appreciated. Great read - wonderful photographs - Who could ask for more?…Bravo!
  10. Hilke Breder Says:
    December 14th, 2011 at 10:59 am Brilliant images, Kent! Love the turtle, the purple gallinule… actually all of them!
  11. Michelle Says:
    December 14th, 2011 at 11:51 am Your photos and prose make you feel like you are right there..love that you included a turtle…
  12. Barry Heimlich Says:
    December 14th, 2011 at 4:02 pm Ken, It’s always a great time to bird with you, and we sure had a great day. Your pictures are breathtaking. the gymnastic purple gallinule and the turtle’s head are my favorites.
  13. Aria Says:
    December 16th, 2011 at 3:33 am The eye of the young cormorant is a stunner,but so is the roseate spoonbill painted bunting, the Purple Gallinule, th Pine warbler and any number of the others. Youe posts are just so full of wonders.
  14. Ken Says:
    December 16th, 2011 at 6:44 am Thanks, all, for your encouraging comments. You help me better realize what a treasure we have so close to home. Ken

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