Indian River County Wetlands, Nov. 6, 2010

Wurdermann's Heron

A rarely seen Wurdemann’s Heron, a blend of the Great Blue and Great White Herons, was well observed and photographed by many on the trip. By Hart Rufe

FEB. 4, 2012, FIELD TRIP TO GREEN CAY AND
WAKODAHATCHEE WETLANDS, PALM BEACH COUNTY

An SLAS regularly scheduled field trip was joined by this year’s SLAS Beginning Birder Class taking a “final exam in the field” excursion to Green Cay and Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Boynton Beach on Saturday, February 4th. The combined group totaled 36 enthusiastic and inspired participants who enjoyed a good, if not spectacular, day of birding while observing a total of 58 species of birds.

Certainly the highlight of the trip for most was the number of Anhingas with nestlings, from the tiniest of babies in some nests to nearly full grown young just about ready to fledge in other nests. Soras, often elusive and hard to find, were particularly accommodating, and a couple of Least Bitterns tested the abilities of birders to separate them from the leaves and reeds where they hide themselves so well.

A rarely seen Wurdemann’s Heron, a blend of the Great Blue and Great White Herons (the Great White Heron itself a separate morph of the Great Blue Heron) was well observed and photographed by many on the trip. Several trip members were treated to the mating display and ritual of a pair of Purple Gallinules from the beginning to the end.

Incoming SLAS Treasurer (elections in April), John Imperato, sought to make friends with an obliging Double-crested Cormorant, but only time will tell whether the relationship will last. Finally, we carefully scanned all Cormorants in view, but could not find the previously reported Neo-tropic Cormorant found only a few days earlier. The next day we learned that it did not return to Wakodahatchee until late in the afternoon, probably while most of the trip members were enjoying the post-trip repast at Sweet Tomatoes. The trip was led by Hart and Jewel Rufe.

Submitted by Hart Rufe

58 species seen
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Gadwall Mottled Duck Blue-winged Teal Green-winged Teal Pied-billed Grebe Wood Stork Double-crested Cormorant Anhinga Least Bittern Great Blue Heron (also – Wurdemann’s) Great Egret Snowy Egret Little Blue Heron Tricolored Heron Cattle Egret Green Heron White Ibis Glossy Ibis Black Vulture	Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Red-shouldered Hawk Cooper’s hawk Sora Purple Gallinule Common Gallinule American Coot Ring-billed Gull Caspian Tern Mourning Dove Rock Pigeon (en route) Belted Kingfisher Red-bellied Woodpecker Downy Woodpecker Eastern Phoebe Blue Jay Fish Crow	Northern Rough-winged Swallow Purple Martin Tree Swallow Blue-gray Gnatcatcher European Starling Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Black-and-white Warbler Common Yellowthroat Palm Warbler Pine Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Savannah Sparrow Northern Cardinal Painted Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle European Sparrow (at Sweet Tomatoes)

Photos by Hart Rufe, Anjula Smith, Marc Rosenthal, Luke Napodano and Dorothy Schulz (group shot)
(Click thumbnails above and below for larger versions)
Great Blue and Wurdermann's Herrons (LD)	Anhinga and chicks (HR)	... even younger chicks (HR)	Female Anhinga (MR)
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (HR)	Black-and-white Warbler (AS)	Blue-winged Teal (AS)	Blue-winged Teal (AS)
Cardinal and Painted Bunting (HR)	Common Gallinule (HR)	Cooper's Hawk (AS)	Double-crested Cormorant (AS)
Double-crested Cormorant (AS)	Downy Woodpecker (HR)	Egyptian Goose (AS) Another view	Green Heron (AS)
Common Gallinule, Immature (MR)	Red-shouldered Hawk, immature	Least Bittern (HR)	Little Blue Heron (HR)
Purple Gallinule (HR)	Purple Gallinules, mating (HR)	Purple Gallinule, immature (AS)	Purple Martins (AS)
Red-winged Blackbird (MR)	White Ibis (HR)	Visiting Macaw chews up railing (AS)	Marsh Rabbit (HR)
Iguana (HR)