Florida Specialties

March 8^th

          We spent last night in Ocala which is between Gainesville and Orlando.  This morning we drove about 1½ hours to the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area south of Orlando.  The area has both a grassland habitat and several lakes with waterfowl and shorebirds.  We did not see anything unusual, but it was a very rural part of Florida which was new to us.  The area surrounding the wildlife area had lots of horse and cattle ranches.

          Two Florida specialties that we saw today were the Mottled Duck and the Limpkin.  The Mottled Duck is closely related to the Mallard and the Black Duck.  Some authorities suggest lumping all three under a single species.  However, the Mottled Duck generally occurs throughout most of Florida and the gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana.  In these areas the Mallard is uncommon.

          The Limpkin looks like something between a crane and a rail, but this odd wading bird has no close relatives.  It is widespread in the American tropics but in the United States it is found only in Florida and southern Georgia.  Their main food source is large apple snails that are found in freshwater swamps and marshes.  Limpkins are mostly solitary and have a piercing banshee like wail that is often heard at dawn or at night.

(11 new FOY birds, total in Florida 40)

          Mottled Duck                      Glossy Ibis

          Common Gallinule            Loggerhead Shrike

          Limpkin                             Tree Swallow

          Wilson’s Snipe                  Savannah Sparrow

          Cattle Egret                       Palm Warbler

          White Ibis

                                           Limpkin

  Sandhill Crane (transitioning to summer plumage)

                                           Savannah Sparrow

      Loggerhead Shrike (almost identical to 

      Northern Shrike)