STA-5, Hendry County Florida

On November 29, my father and I drove 2 hours south to just south of Clewiston, where Storm Treatment Are-5 is controlled to prevent flooding in Florida. These large square lots are a great place to find birds. These remote, shallow-water marshes attract many species of nesting wading birds, migratory and other water fowl such as great blue herons, wood storks, snowy egrets, great egrets and roseate spoonbills.

The trip started off early waking up at 5 in the morning and driving 2 hrs south. We arrived just a little before 8. Along the way I had spotted 35 American Kestrels, 20 Red-shouldered Hawks, 5 Belted Kingfishers, lots of Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures and some Ring-billed Gulls.

Upon arrival there were about 75 Tree Swallows, 2 Cave Swallows (Life Specie), and 10 Rough-winged Swallows hanging on a wire of the road. In the ponds i had spotted a Limpkin, lots of Blue-winged Teals, thousands of American Coots which were mixed with Common Morehens, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Peregrine Falcon (Life Specie), Killdeer and Lesser Yellowlegs. Vince one of the more experienced birders was able to call a Swamp Sparrow (Life Specie) and a Common Yellowthroat out of some tall grass along the edge.

Glossy Ibis

Once everybody had arrived the tour started. In the beginning I was stuck back at the end and when a bird was spotted by the first car, by the time I had gotten there it would have already been scared off. (Note to myself try to be in the front of the line of cars for best sightings).

Our first stop was another open area where the shallow-water marshes were filled with American Coots, Common Morehens, and waterfowl. Our guides found Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, and Ring-necked Duck through their scopes, giving us great looks at them. Another birder spotted an American Bittern (Life Specie) in a bush far out in the middle of the marsh. We had a few Palm Warblers cross the road, other then that there were the usual Egrets and Herons.

Northern Shoveler

The next stop was for Purple Swamphens (Life Specie) located at the very back of the marsh. Looking through the scope I could tell they were about the size of a small dog, but much larger then the Purple Gallinule in which they look very similar to. There was also a flock of Black-winged Stilts, Least Sandpipers, more American Coots and Common Morehens, Herons and Egrets. Across the canal behind we had a Meadowlark singing and an Eastern Phoebe.

The third stop, the guides found a flock of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks (Life Specie), Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Life Specie), Green-winged Teal, Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, and Northern Shovelers. Other then ducks a pair of American Bitterns flew past and landed in a bush on the other side of the marsh. A Peregrine Falcon gave us great views, while it leaped from its perch and flew overhead. Just before leaving I spotted a small rail like bird fly into a patch of tall grass. He was later heard and identified as a King Rail (Life Specie).

In our last stop, we found to Great Blue Herons in white morph (Life morph). There was also 2 Snail Kites (Life Specie) fly over and a Northern Harrier. Using a bird pod our guide was able to call 3 Soras out from the reeds. Here we found a Roseate Spoonbill with 2 Wood Storks.Sora

As it was getting late, my father and I left the group and went to finish the rest of the way. Along the way found a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Life Specie), a Western Kingbird (Life Specie) or a Cassin's Kingbird (Life Specie) not sure to the identity of this bird yet and a Loggerhead Shrike (Life Specie).

In total we saw 67 different species and over 500,000 individual birds.

Pictures of the trip are located on my fathers website

http://wchjr56.smugmug.com/Animals/661807