One of the places I wanted to go birding as my vacation winds down is Miami Whitewater Wetlands. Getting up at 6:00 a.m. I proceeded to get myself ready. Leaving the house at about 7:30, I headed out for the hour drive. This is another place I really enjoy visiting. The following pictures is a testament to this claim.
It’s kind of ironic that this place is called a “wetlands”. And with the dry spell we’ve had lately, the absence of water is never more obvious. Where there once was knee deep water, you can now walk. And the ground is firm.
From the parking area, I walked towards the one corner where there is usually water with good cover. For the past week I’ve been listening to different Wren calls since my friend Gale spotted Marsh and Sedge Wrens at the wetlands. As I approached I distinctly heard 2 Sedge Wrens calling. I’m so glad that I’ve listened to the calls on Cornell’s web site. As I watched and listened as to there location, I followed the call of the closest. The bird was deep in cattails and weeds, but you could see it move around. As I moved a little closer, it then flew off with a good view of a new bird for my life list.
Gale had commented that the park had mowed the grass back from the dike on both sides. Well, she was correct. It was pretty active with sparrows.
I spent about an hour and a half here before going over to Lost bridge. Someone had posted yesterday that a American Golden Plover had been spotted. And sure enough, it was still there. Not just one, but two. Another bird for my life list. The first picture is the up stream shot where the plover was spotted.
This last picture is the down stream view of the same mud flat that runs under the bridge.
Well this happy blogger is quite satisfied with today’s outing. Anytime that I can score 2 new birds for the old life list makes this day a complete success.
The days birds are the following:
- Canada Goose
- Starling
- Red Tail Hawk
- Blue Jay
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Rock Dove
- Mourning Dove
- Mallard
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- Red-bellied Woodpecker
- Eastern Towhee
- Eastern Phoebe
- Northern Cardinal
- Sedge Wren-Lifer
- American Robin
- Song Sparrow
- White-crowned Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Ruby-crowned Kinglet
- Golden-crowned Kinglet
- Cedar Waxwing
- White-breasted Nuthatch
- Carolina Chickadee
- Grey Catbird
- Red-winged Black Bird
- Common Yellowthroat
- Eastern Bluebird
- Northern Flicker
- Gold Finch
- Killdeer
- Downy Woodpecker
- Osprey
- Bald Eagle
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Great Blue heron
- American Golden Plover-Lifer
- Turkey Vulture
- Swamp Sparrow
- American Pipit
