Peaceful Waters Sanctuary Field Trip 2025

Saturday, March 15, 2025 • Peaceful Waters Sanctuary • Report by Andrea Diamond, Images Courtesy of Ana Lima

It was a beautiful blue-sky morning as sixteen women gathered for a field trip at Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in Wellington, Flordia on March 15, 2025. As we gathered in the parking around 8 a.m., we began to see many birds, including 2 Sandhill Cranes and a male Wood Duck flying over us. We then headed over to the boardwalk where one of the first birds we found was the elusive Wilson's Snipe, who blended in so well with the wetlands foliage that it was hard to find. Eventually the bird stepped out into plain view and everybody got good looks. It was an auspicious start to our field trip, which later concluded with a tally of 53 species observed including Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal and a strange-looking hybrid duck.

We also saw Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Liittle Blue Heron and Green Heron. Two Osprey were hunting over the waters. We also observed White Ibis and Glossy Ibis, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Loggerhead Shrike, Red-winged Blackbird, and a cute Pied-billed Grebe.

We all enjoyed watching a flock of some 80 Purple Martins nest-building and courting in man-made white gourds that are overseen by Shelly Rozenberg, Audubon Everglades' Purple Martin Conservation Coordinator. Because the gourds are only a few feet higher than most of our heads, we were able to observe the fine points of these remarkable birds that fly from Brazil every February and stay until July.

Back in the retention pond on the north side of the park, which was unusually shallow in spots, we watched a Solitary Sandpiper, some Long-billed dowitchers and a Lesser yellowlegs. The Egyptian Geese were back there also. We saw many Palm warblers Yellow-rumped warblers and our namesake the Eastern phoebe. One of the highlights of the day (not a bird) was watching the River Otter swim and eat vegetation in the pond on the south side of the sanctuary. But seeing the baby Limpkin sitting on its nest surrounded by snail shells as if it was the decoration was the best. Afterwards we enjoyed our picnic under the shelter in the park with a toast to a great day

Purple Martin