[Pauhana]

Left St Petersburg this morning at 5 a.m. to drive southeast to Belle Glade Florida with a couple of my friends.. Shorebirds are in full swing.

Arrive at first spot at 8 a.m.. A sod farm just south of Belle Glade to look for Sandpipers (6 mile sod farm). We were reward with Upland Sandpipers and Buff breasted Sandpipers. We continued south and found a large flooded area that had over 500 Glossy Ibis (conservative estimate) along with Lesser/Greater Yellowlegs, White Pelican, Gull Bill Terns and numerous other birds. From there we continued south on Browns Farm Road until we found another pond located back in the sugar cane fields. This field held hundreds of Black Neck Stilts along with Black Bellied Whistling Ducks and various shorebirds. Birds sighted today included

11 Upland Sandpiper (life bird)
Buff Breasted Sandpiper (life bird)
Killdeer
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Bellied Plover
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallows (hundreds)
Black Neck Stilt (hundreds)
Wilson Phalarope
Black Tern
Least Sandpiper
Long Billed Dowitcher (life bird)
Black Bellied Whistling Ducks
Mottled Ducks
Pectorial Sandpiper
Greater and Lesser Yellow Legs
White Pelicans
Belted Kingfisher
Gull-billed Terns
Loggerhead Shrike
Crested Caracara
Little Blue, Tri-Color, Great White, and Great Blue Heron
Cattle Egret
Common Nighthawk
Sandhill Crane
Black Vultures

We arrive back home around 4 P.M., a long day but a great way to finish up my last day off from work with 3 life birds. Teachers report back to school on Monday so work is going to get in the way of my birding.