Wading bird update 2: A few of us conducted a serious evening survey from Stone Harbor Boulevard today. Looking from the foot bridge at Scotch Bonnet, we counted arriving birds in 15 minute intervals-- starting 2 hours before sunset and continuing until 15 minutes after sunset. Included in our total of 2,078 were: 597 Great Egrets 1,081 Snowy Egrets 39 Little Blue Herons 86 Tricolored Herons 22 Black-crowned Night-Herons (leaving roosts) 1 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (leaving roost) 252 Glossy Ibises Needless to say, this was an awesome thing to see, but the birds tend to be a bit distant. I believe the Skimmer boat is running trips from the Wetlands Institute at least one night a week, and these might visit the Gull Island area (and get you closer to the roosts). I hope to put together another survey at Scotch Bonnet next Wednedsay.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 01:55:06 +0000