South Florida trip -December 5-10

Green Heron, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Dec 6, 2021

Common Yellowthroat, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Dec 6, 2021

Pied billed Grebe, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Dec 6, 2021

Boat tailed Grackles, Green Cay Wetlands, Boynton Beach, FL, Dec 6, 2021

After spending the night in Dallas/Fort Worth on my way home from Mexico I took a late morning flight to Fort Lauderdale to meet up with Sherri for several days in south Florida. I arrived in mid afternoon and we then headed north to our lodging on the beach for a night. There were a few hit and miss showers as we headed north but overall a mix of sun and clouds and warm. It was too late and I was too tired to do much more than take a walk on the beach. 

The forecast for Monday was for possible showers after lunch into the afternoon. I woke up to rain falling heavily as showers moved in the from the south. Any hope of getting out earlier were quickly dashed and instead we waited it out a bit before making a drive over to Green Cay Wetland. It was spitting rain when we arrived but then the sun came out a bit. A heavy shower also moved through but thankfully I made it under cover before it hit. The skies then became much sunnier and it got warm into the 80’s. The birds were out as always at Green Cay but overall the numbers seemed down for most species but I’m not usually down in the area in the early part of December. I walked the boardwalks and had point blank views of many species. I also made a walk around the parking area and that was when I saw the most unusual species for the morning with a juvenile Red headed Woodpecker that was flushed by a passing Red shouldered Hawk. I tried to relocate it but had no luck and by this time it was getting close to noon and we had to leave to meet up for lunch with some relatives. The rain returned off and on in the afternoon after we had lunch and made the drive north to Jupiter.

White eyed Vireo, Riverbend Park, Jupiter, FL, Dec 7, 2021

White Ibis, Riverbend Park, Jupiter, FL, Dec 7, 2021

On the first day in Jupiter I headed over to the nearby Riverbend Park where I arrived a bit before dawn on what would be a beautiful sunny day. I walked quite a few trails and found a lot of expected species but nothing out of the ordinary. After a brief stop back at our cottage we returned to Riverbend Park for another round of hiking the trails there. By this point it was late morning and we then headed back for lunch and spent the afternoon hanging around the cottage plus kayaking in the small lake nearby. 

Yellow throated Warbler, John D. MacArthur Beach SP, North Palm Beach, FL, Dec 8, 2021

Orange crowned Warbler, John D. MacArthur Beach SP, North Palm Beach, FL, Dec 8, 2021

Red bellied Woodpecker, John D. MacArthur Beach SP, North Palm Beach, FL, Dec 8, 2021

Tennessee Warbler, Riverbend Park, Jupiter, FL, Dec 8, 2021

Northern Parula, Riverbend Park, Jupiter, FL, Dec 8, 2021

Wednesday we headed to the coast but not before I made another early morning trip to Riverbend Park. Although I did not expect to see too much as I only had a short amount of time I was pleasantly surprised to come across a diverse mixed flock near the end of my time there that contained eight species of warbler including a Tennessee Warbler…a bit of a rarity for the date and a species I had not had previously in the state. After my relatively brief morning stop at Riverbend Park it was off the the coast, down to John D. MacArthur State Park. We arrived there around 9:30 and it was already getting fairly hot (the high in the upper 80’s was nearly record setting for the day). Nonetheless I birded the few trails there plus a bunch of edge habitat. Not a ton of diversity but some good looks at some birds. We eventually finished our time there after lunch and then headed back to Jupiter.

Limpkin, Riverbend Park, Jupiter, FL, Dec 9, 2021

Egyptian Goose, Riverbend Park, Jupiter, FL, Dec 9, 2021

Lizard with grasshopper kill, Grassy Waters Preserve, West Palm Beach, FL, Dec 9, 2021

On my last full day I started off a foggy morning once more at Riverbend Park. The fog seemed to keep activity somewhat subdued and I didn't find anything too noteworthy but at least it was warm.  Eventually the sun burned through late in the morning while we were hiking at Grassy Waters Preserve.  We spent the rest of the day around the rental house until a medical issue had us spending hours at the emergency room...not a great way to end a vacation.

I found a total of 126 species with one of those being new for me in Florida (Tennessee Warbler) bringing my Florida list to 222.  More on warblers for the trip can be found at the following link:  Florida warblers.