Green Cay - a Woodpecker

Thursday, August 21, 2008 - As I began my evening stroll I saw a red-bellied woodpecker, a female jumping around on a palm trunk. I know what kind of woodpecker now because I looked it up in the bird book. She was looking for a likely spot in which to drill, but didn't find one while I was watching. This evening's stroll takes place after T.S. Fay dumped buckets and buckets of water everywhere. It's obvious the water level has risen in all the wet areas of Green Cay. Even the otter hole looks like it might have flooded. I'm pretty much all alone here at this time of night (around 7pm) - maybe people stayed away because it looks like rain again?

Not many animals around. Wading birds do not like deep water. I did see a couple woodstorks, a few ibis, even a glossy one, but not much else. And it is unusually quiet. No peeps or croaks or screams from the moor hens. The other day I saw a moor hen battle. They recline on their backs and fight with their feet. Really odd! What was the fight about? Who knows? Territory? It is very comical to see two birds on their backs slapping and poking each other with their feet!!

T.S. Fay

August 19 - Not as bad as a hurricane, but Tropical Storm Fay kept me home from work to day. The university is closed until tomorrow. Lots of dark skies, wind and rain, but not scary at all. I did not lose power at all. At least not yet. The sky is beginning to show blue at 4:30pm, so I think the worst of the storm has passed my area of south Florida.

Maybe a walk at Green Cay later?

Green Cay, Friday evening

August 15 - Evening is more humid. Not many people want to visit in the evening so during last Friday's visit I didn't run into walkers. Saw an alligator on the lake swimming across with his mouth open. What a big, pink mouth! Don't know whether he was cooling off or trying to take a big drink. Then I saw 2 whistling ducks on the log where we usually see turtles or baby moor hens. They were twins, perching in the same position. And they have very, very pink feet!

As I was rounding the curve toward the cut back to the center, there was a raccoon ahead of me on the boardwalk. He looked back & kept trotting forward. I slowed down but did not stop. Eventually he or she slipped through the slats on the railing and disappeared. He was bigger than my cat.

I almost decided to call it a night & not do the small loop, but I did anyway and was rewarded with a close sighting of a young spoonbill. He was standing on one leg, with his bill tucked into the pale pink feathers on his back near the gazebo on the small loop trail. As I watched, he opened his eyes, lifted his bill, looked around, then went back to napping. It was getting late and the sky was darkening, so I quickly finished walking the loop & headed home.

Green Cay in the Evening

August 7, 2008, 7pm -almost too hot to walk, but decided to anyway. Mine was one of two cars in the parking lot. On the long loop near the first chickee hut, saw two alligators rolling over one another, no sound, looked like they were playing. For the first time, saw a pig frog, kind of small to be making such a big noise but the photographer who was there said it was definitely one of the piggies. At a distance saw a few roseate spoonbills scattered among the great egrets and tri-colored herons who were gathering in their nightime groupings. As I was entering the cypress area, two whistling ducks were sitting on the railing. I had a close up look at their markings - red bill, green head, black bellies, and ruddy backs - very colorful. As I approached they flew away, whistling.

A few stilts on the short loop, nothing in the cut-across, one spoonbill near the first rest area on the short loop with his/her head buried under feathers. On one leg too.

Although it was hot at first, by 7:45 the air was cooler and more egrets were flying into the groups. I think I saw two white morphs of the great blue heron - yellow legs are heron legs, so they must be herons.

7/27/08 6-7am. Green Cay. clear and humid.
Today was similar to yesterday. Saw at least 3 whistling ducks , whistling in flight. The egrets gathered in the center of the long loop sheltered from the boardwalk. We could see them from the backside of loop, but not from beginning of walk. 2 mottled duck families and lots of moorhens and green herons. There was a gathering of many different birds to the right of the nature center again: 2 glossy ibis, many wood storks, 5 roseate spoonbills, many egrets large and small, along with blue and tricolor herons. No great blue herons seen. Did see 2 purple gallinules in the fireflag stalks. No stilts today. No alligators.

6/26/08 Green Cay. Humid in hi 70's @ 6am. 11 Roseate spoonbills in the throng of egrets in water on 1 mi loop. The spoonbills took flight all together. At 6:50 am, there was a small gathering of young egrets along with 4 more immature spoonbills in the water to the right of the nature center.

7/24/08 Thurs. Green Cay. Dark. No moon. Temp mid 70's. Air very still. Water like glass. Two adult stilts yakking/calling loudly in the dark in the shallow water. About 15 feet away, a small stilt was running to catch up with them. Saw 2 black-bellied whistling ducks in flight whistling the whole time. 2 adult spoonbills flying above a horde of egrets., and one lone spoonbill on the bank across the water. 6 stilts in nearby water very vocal with a few young stilts. Moorhens seen throughout the wetlands with families in different stages of development, from a week or two to almost full size, but still no red nose mask. A few mottled duck families with chicks following adult..Not as many egrets flying in today, but where they did gather, 2 alligators lurked in the water. No adult purple gallinules seen for the past 3 weeks or so. One black crowned immature night heron flew off the railing. Lots of blue herons on railings, flying away farther up the railings when we came by. Saw 4 glossy ibis during walk.