Walking the Levee Trail

The Levee Trail provides access to the Bar Ditch Trail which traverses the wildest part of the Wounded Wetlands. The latter trail is now under about a foot of water, shortening the walk but inviting more careful exploration. Spending more time at "sit spots" along the levee, I get a bit less exercise as well as some nice finds.

A feisty Brown Thrasher:

Migrants, including bright male Cape May Warblers...

...and less conspicuous females and immature birds of the same species:

Yellow-throated Warblers...

...which seem to advertise their names:

American Redstarts are hard to follow as they move erratically in the trees...

...sometimes offering only a quick click as they blaze away like wildfire:

This demure redstart is probably a female. The immature male is very similar but usually shows more of an orange tint:

Northern Parulas nest just to the north and are early arrivals during fall migration. These are males:

Females lack the red breast markings:

Active and acrobatic Black-and-White Warlbers do not nest locally but are sometimes seen here during breeding season. This could be an adult female or first year male:

This is an adult male on September 29, 2020:

In spring, the adult male is more boldly patterned with black markings (April, 2020):

Palm Warblers arrive a bit later and many stay here for the winter. Their long legs are an adaptation for feeding on the ground:

Prairie Warblers are back:

This male Scarlet Tanager was a bonus bird this past week. The male sheds his scarlet coat for a green one:

On my way home yesterday as I emerged from the high brush at the trailhead, I cautiously looked around before walking out into the open. Occasionally I surprise a mammal such as a rabbit, Raccoon, deer or Bobcat. This time I almost missed seeing a Coyote which had stopped to answer the call of nature:

When finished with doin' business, it continued across the gravel road:

We are in the heart of the wet season. Cloud formations can be very entertaining. Can you see this poor guy being knocked out by one  thief while the other sneaks off with his stolen horse? (or is it a rooster or a seahorse?

A record number of tropical storms have developed this year. Thankfully, south Florida has been spared a direct hit so far. Morning walks have been interrupted by "pop-up" showers associated with some of them.  Storms brewed rapidly before sunrise on October 3:

This was the scene to the south 25 minutes before sunrise on October 5. The clouds formed rapidly and I had to cut the walk short.

I got to the exit gate only minutes before the deluge:

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Linking to:

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Natasha Musing

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

Timeless Thursday

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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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Crops & Clips: Spring Migration

Birding during spring migration in southeastern Florida is usually less productive than in autumn. In past years there have been pleasant surprises. One of the best years was 2011, when I found nine warbler species one morning in mid-April. 

A highlight then was a Blackpoll Warbler:



Least Terns return to our lake on or very close to April 15 every year:



Their courtship rituals begin almost immediately:



Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers (from left to right) pass through...



...as do Black-necked Stilts:



Our winter residents are departing....

Black-and-White Warblers:



Gray Catbird:



Blue-headed Vireo:


  
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher:



Our Son-in-Law was born in Sagua la Grande on the north coast of Cuba, which spreads out about 100 miles south of Key West. His father speaks of seeing large numbers of colorful birds filling the trees in springtime, waiting for favorable winds to help them cross northward over the Straits of Florida. 

This phenomenon was portrayed dramatically in these Key West velocity radar images which I captured overnight on April 26, 2017. The echoes of migrating birds moving towards the radar are depicted in green, while those moving away to  the north are red:

April 25, 2017 at 9:52 PM: 



April 26, 2017 at 5:15 AM:



At the same time that morning, the Miami Radar returned dense echoes passing overhead. Our home, indicated by the "+" mark, inland  between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, appeared to be in the middle of a mass migration:

 

The results on the ground were not quite as impressive, though I did find 16 individuals of seven warbler species. I expected that birds would be dropping off the trees! In truth, the radar is also capturing the huge biomass "bloom" of insects which are mostly being blown along by the prevailing winds. 

This spring's migration has been rather disappointing. Prevailing winds from the southeast often direct the migrants towards the west coast of Florida and even across the Gulf of Mexico. Also, since migrating birds can fly up to 50 miles an hour with a favorable tail wind, they can pass over south Florida well before settling down at sunrise. 

My  most memorable warbler sightings this year were small flocks of Cape May Warblers, on April 19 and 28:







FACTOID: "The Cape May Warbler breeds in boreal coniferous forests, where it sings, feeds, and nests high in the spruce canopy... Although the first illustrations of this species were based on birds taken in Canada, its English name refers to the locality from which Alexander Wilson first described the species—Cape May, New Jersey—where it was not recorded again for more than 100 years..." (Ref: Cornell Lab Birds of the World)

After a very dry winter and early spring, we are finally entering our wet season. Sunrises can be spectacular...

View from our back patio on May 6, 2020:

 

The sky had cleared by nightfall as the Full Flower Moon rose over our lake:

 

Before sunrise In the local wetlands, a thunderstorm along the Atlantic coast cast a shadow which arched over to the Everglades on the opposite horizon:





Tiny but beautiful Dainty Sulphur butterflies danced over grassy spots:




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Linking to:

Fences Around the World

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Camera Critters

All Seasons

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Our World Tuesday

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World

________________________________________________

Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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