A lot of the golf courses in Florida have extensive wetlands associated with the. Lots of these are natural lakes but many are attenuation ponds designed to hold rain water or recycled water from the sewage works for irrigation purposes. These attract a surprising amount of wildlife and I was pleasantly surprised to see a number of waders such as Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Solitary Sandpiper, Wilsons Snipe and Greater Yellowlegs in good numbers. Alligators and Florida Red-bellied Cooters (turtles) were also a common sight.
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| Least Sandpiper |
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| Killdeer |
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| Greater Yellowlegs with Least Sandpipers |
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| Greater Yellowlegs |
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| Wilson's Snipe |
Nearly every where we went had at least one pair of ridiculously tame Sandhill Cranes whilst both Turkey & Black Vulture were omni present overhead. The golf courses were the only places I saw Loggerhead Shrikes.
Turkey Vulture
Sandhill Crane
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
Golf carts are essential in Florida due to the heat and many courses won't let you play without hiring one. At first I was a bit annoyed about this but I soon discovered approaching birds in the cart slowly meant they weren't disturbed whereas approaching on foot they quickly moved away. The added bonus was the 'beer buggy' that came round selling snacks and cold drinks. Birding on a hot Florida day in the comfort of a golf cart with a cold beer in the icebox provided takes some beating!
The muddy margins of some of these pools held the waders whilst more established areas were home t oa good variety of waterbirds such as Great Blue & Little Blue Heron's , Anhinga, Pied-billed Grebes and on one memorable day my trips only Roseate Spoonbill. Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets, Glossy Ibis and Limpkin were also fairly common.
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| Pied-billed Grebe |
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| Roseate Spoonbill |
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| Little-blue Heron |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| American White Ibis |
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Anhinga
Some of the best views of birds such as Palm Warbler, Pine Warbler and Eastern Phoebe were of those feeding on the ground on golf courses. Using the cart as a hide meant I could get up pretty close without disturbing them.
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Eastern Phoebe
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Ospreys are one of the commonest birds of prey in Florida and they were s common sight fishing in the golf course lakes and ponds. Red-shouldered Hawks also utilised the fairways for hunting. Perching up until they spotted a prey item and then swooping down after it. I also saw my only American Kestrels on the golf courses.
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| American Kestrel |
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| Osprey with fish |
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| Red-shouldered Hawk |
It was outside one of the golf course club houses that I saw my only Wild Turkey of the trip. Apparently it comes every morning to get fed scraps by the kitchen staff.
