Birding On a Shoestring: Brevard County Florida Day 1

                                                                      Black Vulture

                                                                 Tri-colored Heron

                                                                        White Ibis

                                                           Male Common Yellowthroat

                                                                          Anhinga

                                                        Eastern Palm Warbler (Yellow)

                                                                        Glossy Ibis

                                                               Juvenile Wood Stork

                                                                 Common Gallinule


111718- 1100-1200 hrs/partly cloudy
Viera Wetlands AKA Rich Grissom Wetlands

No sooner did we arrive in Florida, we were on our way for an adventure.  This escapade was initiated by a birding buddy that grew up in this area.  The best thing about it was that this was an expanded area, so neither one of us knew what to expect.  I believe it went above and beyond our expectations.

My experiences in Florida never included birding, as I had not been interested in it at the time, so this visit was going to mean a great deal to me for Florida birds.  Hoping that I'd get the well-known birds to the area meant that I was prepared to work for them.  There was a little disappointment that not all of them were to be discovered on this trip, but another trip would be in order, especially since I'd gained one good contact.

Viera Wetlands netted us both some great finds, especially the Wood Stork, which I had never seen before, as well as the Eastern Palm Warbler.  Even though this was our first day birding, I tried not to let our good fortune cloud my senses or uplift my spirits needlessly.

There is more to come.

For more of the Florida adventure, see:

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/11/florida-birding-adventure-in-brevard_30.html

https://debhirt.blogspot.com/2018/12/florida-birding-adventure-in-brevard.html

Oklahoma Migratory Species Profile: Palm Warbler

This long tailed tail-pumper is a ground forager that breeds in the Boreal Forest of Canada and the northeastern US.  As breeders in the north, they will use evergreen trees and dense cover in boggy habitat.   Similar to a pipit, it can be helpful to confirm the identity with the yellow around the vent and rump as well as the white corners on the tail.  For a warbler, they are on the larger side and have a rounder belly.

Its song is a buzzy trill with a common chek call.  During fall migration, it will often be seen with kinglets, sparrows, Pine, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  As migrants and winter birds, this songbird will be seen along forest edges, weedy fields, parks, coastal scrubland, and with scattered trees and shrubbery.  The New World Warbler is normally found in the western two thirds of the US, and is called either the Brown Palm Warbler or the Western Palm Warbler.  The Eastern Palm Warbler will be located in the eastern third of the US.

They constantly bob the tail, are on the ground more than other warblers, and are fond of berries as well as protein, sometimes being seen hawking insects if in a tree or on a shrub.  They are more at eye level or below, rather than higher canopies like many other warblers.

                                                          Western Palm Warbler
                                                         Boomer Lake Park, 2018


Palm Warblers are frequently victims of collisions with lighted towers.  It is also suspected that since the better part of these neotropical migrants breed in the Boreal Forest, they are losing population due to peat (moss) harvesting, logging, and tar sands development.

The species will use feeders if they find native plants and a good water source.