Among our changes is that we've moved next door to one of Palm Beach County's finest parks: Okeeheelee Park -- home to Okeeheelee Nature Center. A stroll along any one of the many trails here might net you a small flock of south Florida's resident Sandhill Cranes, a nesting pair of Wood Ducks, or any number of surprises.
This past Saturday, for instance, we came across the first perched Northern Rough-winged Swallows we've ever seen. Northern Rough-winged Swallows are no strangers to these parts, as Palm Beach just about straddles the border of their summer and winter ranges, but every other time we've seen them has been on the wing, and typically mixing with Tree Swallows. Now we had a prime opportunity to study them at our leisure.
UPDATE: Seagull Steve has astutely thrown my ID into question. Does everybody concur that these are more likely to be young Purple Martins?
Identifying swallows by flight pattern is not a skill I currently possess, but I do hope that this experience made enough of an impression to form some basis for comparison that I'll be able to draw on in the future.
UPDATE: Seagull Steve has astutely thrown my ID into question. Does everybody concur that these are more likely to be young Purple Martins?
Identifying swallows by flight pattern is not a skill I currently possess, but I do hope that this experience made enough of an impression to form some basis for comparison that I'll be able to draw on in the future.
