On Sunday, October 6, twenty-one birders joined TAS field trip leader Michele Louden for a fantastic morning of birding at Plantation Preserve in Broward County. Though rain was in the forecast, it didn’t actually start raining until we had almost returned to the preserve’s parking area.
Our tally for the morning was 58 bird species, including a Canada Warbler that continued for a second day near the beginning of the preserve’s nature trail. Thirteen other warblers were seen: Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula and Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Tennessee, Hooded, Cape May, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Palm and Prairie Warbler. Other migrant birds found over the course of the morning included Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Barn Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Gray-cheeked and Swainson’s Thrush, Baltimore Oriole and Summer and Scarlet Tanager.
Among the resident birds encountered were Mottled Duck, White-winged Dove, Limpkin, Anhinga, Great and Snowy Egret, Little Blue, Tricolored, Green and Great Blue Heron, Osprey, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpecker, Loggerhead Shrike, Fish Crow, Brown Thrasher and House Finch. Every bird tallied during the morning is listed in an eBird checklist compiled by Luis Gonzalez, which can be viewed here.
Summer Tanager. Photo by Luis Gonzalez