Bird Rookery Swamp observations
Saturday, January 30
7:30 am-12:15 pm
“I wasn’t expecting a lot because of the cool start to the day, but by the end, 42 species of birds were confirmed. However, the temperatures definitely affected herps and insects. I only
saw six gators, five butterflies (2 species), and one dragonfly. One of the gators was Ida, who came up to sun in the late morning, her picture is below.
One of the highlights early was a family of five River Otters that was playing on the trail by the second bench. They would chase each other, jump on each other, roll in the grass, and generally seem to have a great time. A visitor was there early and saw them too. The otters
slipped into the water, swam to where we were, looked us over and huffed a lot. Then they swam back to where they began and continued to frolic. Here is there video on the CREW Trust facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/crew.environmental.ed
It must be prime time for hawk nesting. Two nests had hawks bringing in material and settling into the nest. The first photo is looking south from the first culvert past marker 3 heading toward marker 6. The second photo is a little past Ida’s Pond and on the left almost
over the trail. A third previously used nest just past marker 3 had a hawk visiting but not bringing anything in or staying at the nest.
Water is flowing over the trails in several spots, and in the deepest there’s actually a pretty strong current. The deepest areas are between markers 6 and 3. I deepest part I walked through was 11-12 inches, but a couple of channels I could step over were perhaps 16
inches deep”.
BIRDS
Black-bellied Whistling Duck – 1
Pied-billed Grebe – 3
Anhinga – 9
Great Blue Heron – 4
Great Egret – 15
Snowy Egret – 7
Cattle Egret – 2
Little Blue Heron – 13
Tri-colored Heron – 6
Green Heron – 3
Black-crowned Night Heron – 3
Yellow-crowned Night Heron – 1
White Ibis – 152
Roseate Spoonbill – 3
Wood Stork – 1
Black Vulture – 55
Turkey Vulture – 39
Red-shouldered Hawk – 13
Common Ground Dove – 9
Belted Kingfisher – 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 16
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Pileated Woodpecker – 3
Eastern Phoebe – 9
Great-crested Flycatcher – 4
Tree Swallow – 2
Blue Jay – 1
Tufted Titmouse – 7
Carolina Wren – 7
House Wren – 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher – 7
Gray Catbird – 32
Northern Mockingbird – 3
White-eyed Vireo – 13
Blue-headed Vireo – 1
Palm Warbler – 14
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 37
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Northern Cardinal – 24
Red-winged Blackbird – 15
Common Grackle – 5
BUTTERFLIES
White Peacock – 4
Zebra Longwing – 1
DRAGONFLIES/DAMSELFLIES
Needham’s Skimmer – 1
MAMMALS
River Otter – 5
Raccoon – 2
White-tailed Deer – 2
Gray Squirrel – 1
REPTILES/AMPHIBIANS
Alligator – 6
Brown Anole – 1
By Dick Brewer, CREW Trust Volunteer