DID SOMEONE SAY PELICAN?

Seeing as some of our early migrant wood warblers such as the Northern parula and Louisiana waterthrush arrived this past week, I figured I better catch up on an old excursion or two before it gets too late to be relevant.  A few weeks back a fellow Alachua birder organized a field trip to Polk County to check out some wastewater treatment wetlands before they are officially opened up to the general public.  As I missed a couple of opportunities to check this place out due to prior commitments, I knew I didn't want to miss out again.

A few of us carpooled down to the south end of Lake Hancock (just for reference, Circle B Bar is located at the northern end) in the early morning hours well before dawn.  A thick fog draped over the roadways we traversed, reducing visibility substantially.  Carefully we made our way towards our destination.  By the time we arrived at the destination, the thick fog which permeated the entire drive down was slowly dissipating. Even though it was not burning off as quickly as we had hoped, the mix of Alachua and Polk County birders eagerly took off to see what avian life was waking up this morning.

Our ears proved the more useful appendage to start the day, since it was still difficult to see through the lingering fog.  We were able to hear red-winged blackbirds, boat-tailed grackles, sora, and even an over-wintering least bittern.  As the fog finally began to burn away, our eyes were treated to see black-necked stilts, wood storks, great and snowy egrets, great blue and little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, and forster's terns overhead.  At one early stop, as everyone was checking out blue-winged teal, mottled ducks, hooded mergansers, and glossy ibis, a large group of tree swallows were busy catching a variety of insects and doing their effortless aerial acrobatics at head level.  It was simply stunning just to step back for a second and watch your entire field of vision completely taken up with tree swallows darting to and fro in unison.  We were also lucky to find a group of tree swallows hanging out on some bare shrubs, which made for some great photos.

Tree swallows were everywhere, but a few were gracious enough to take a break and pose for us

One of the big highlights of the walk was the sheer number of American white pelicans which were present throughout the day.  As the fog lifted, they sprawled out before us.  Literally, thousands of these pelicans were stretched across the roadway several rows wide and spilling out into the adjacent wetland cells.  I have never seen so many in one locale before, it was simply breath-taking.

Just a portion of the pelicans on display, with humans for scale

Besides the pelicans, the diversity and abundance of waterfowl, wading birds, and shore birds was flat out impressive.  Besides ducks already mentioned, green-winged teal, gadwall, american wigeon, lesser scaup, northern pintails, wood ducks, black-bellied whistling ducks, ruddy ducks, northern shovelers, ring-necked ducks, one redhead, and even a few domestic mallards were found by everyone.  Shorebirds were not to be outdone by the waterfowl.  Least sandpipers, killdeers, american avocets, both species of yellowlegs, long-billed dowitchers, wilson's snipe, and even two stilt sandpipers were out and about foraging and preening their feathers.

Small group of long-billed dowitchers

Wood stork in the "sun worshipper" pose

Large numbers of Caspian terns were present, along with a few royal terns and black skimmers hanging out with them.  Belted kingfishers, American kestrels, Northern harriers, ospreys, made their presence known as well.  Other highlights of the day included purple gallinules, a peregrine falcon, limpkins, and two monk parakeets.  It was simply an amazing location to visit.  The avian diversity was amazing, with 82 different species being observed by the groups.  The sheer number of all the individuals was mind boggling.  By the end of the outing, everyone was very excited with all they had seen and experienced throughout the morning.  This will certainly be a heavily visited locale once it is open to the general public.  It will be intriguing to see what avifauna continues to be found here.