It was dark when I stepped out my front door. There was a thin crescent
moon and just the first blush of light on the eastern horizon. It was only
a ten-minute walk down suburban streets and a paved pathway that connects
my neighborhood to the Centre Pointe area. I could hear the low grunts of
wading birds in the cypress trees as I neared the pond.
It’s a small depression, less than three acres and lies about twenty feet
below the surrounding land. It shows up on 1955 topo map and a historic
aerial from that time shows it as cleared land, possibly pasture. When the
surrounding areas was developed in the 1990’s it was converted into a
holding pond and has spreading cypress trees that provide a convenient
roosting area for migrant and wintering waders. It’s listed as Centre
Pointe Pond on eBird.
Six cypress trees out in the pond were covered with waders. I walked along
the pond’s edge as the light gathered, scanning each tree and trying to get
an initial estimate of birds. My first take was about a thousand based on
whitish shapes. I picked a good vantage point and waited for the morning
flight.
At 6:33 am, a single White Ibis took off headed east, silhouetted against
the brightening sky. It was framed between two cell towers on the horizon.
This is urban birding. Through the trees on the far side of the pond I
could see drive-through traffic at the McDonalds on Capital Circle. A few
minutes later, five Snowy Egrets flew off. It was first light, now, and I
could see more detail. The birds were more active, vocalizing and
stretching their wings. I heard a Limpkin’s plaintive call and a Belted
Kingfisher flew low across the pond.
Most of the birds took off in the fifteen minutes before sunrise. It was
hard keeping track of the numbers, but I estimated 700 Western Cattle
Egrets, 400 Snowy Egrets, 300 White Ibises, 50 Little Blue Herons, 25 Great
Egrets and a lone Great Blue Heron.
The Snowies and ibises were in the vanguard. The cattle egrets were slow
in leaving. White feathers were floating on the water around the cypress
trees when I left to head home for breakfast.
