Airboats and flies and tree swallows, Oh My! We began our field trip on Saturday, February 22, 2020,, at dawn near Three Lakes WMA Campground to catch the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers as they left their nesting holes. Two Red-cockaded were particularly cooperative, posing together on a snag.. We heard a single Bachman’s Sparrow and a Brown-headed Nuthatch, but the dawn chorus seemed rather muted, perhaps due to the chilly temperatures.
We had barely turned onto Joe Overstreet Road when a pickup truck pulling an airboat raced past us. As we continued along the Road, more than 100 airboats zipped by us. We began to worry that when we reached the Landing the airboats would have driven all wildlife from the shore of Lake Kissimmee, but we put that thought aside as we enjoyed the variety of birds along the Road. Highlights included one Red-headed Woodpecker (only one this year as apparently European Starlings have chased last year’s nesting pair from their snag), 50 plus Eastern Meadowlarks, 20 Wild Turkeys with a male in display, a dozen Bald Eagles including one on a nest, and a rare Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
As we approached the Landing, we began to see hundreds of Tree Swallows in the air over Lake Kissimmee. What awaited us was a very exciting, but buggy, spectacle. As we exited our cars, we quickly realized the air was full of swarming non-biting flies. And enjoying the bountiful food source were thousands of Tree Swallows. Whether the airboats stirred up the flies or whether it was a coincidence that they hatched on the same day as the airboat meetup, we cannot be sure, but it gave us an experience we are not likely to soon forget. We settled on 5,000 as a conservative estimate of the number of swallows, but the actual amount was likely more. The airboat noise and confusion also had Snail Kites up and moving overhead, as well as a small flock of Black Skimmers.
The group decided that eating lunch at Joe Overstreet Landing was not practical due to the airboat noise and flies, so we retreated to nearby Lake Marian where we had the opportunity to observe American White Pelican, Roseate Spoonbill and an interesting flock of shorebirds. Using our scopes and cameras we sorted through the shorebirds, and agreed we were looking at Long-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpipers and Greater Yellowlegs. Total species for the day was 67.
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Photos by Hart Rufe. Additional photos by Linda Sullivan are posted to St. Lucie Audubon Society Facebook page. Trip report prepared by Doris Brookens.
