This weekend I had the privelege to bird a local Broward County park with my friend Andy. Anne Kolb Nature Center at West Lake Park features an exhibit hall (which I didn't pay to go into), a 68 foot tower where you can get a nice panoramic view of the mangrove wetland and coastline, and some nice hiking trails. We took a hike out to the lake where we only saw three birds. Lucky for me, two of those birds were Black Terns (Chlidonias niger). This was great considering I've never seen a Black Tern. The other bird was a Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), which though I've seen many before I have yet to tire of viewing them over and over.
We also took the Mud Flats Trail out to another view of the lake. Along the way I picked up a few new butterflies for my list. The highlight was the multitude of Mangrove Buckeyes (Junonia genoveva) that gave chase to one another through the mangrove trees. Near the nature center itself was a large Firebush filled with many types of butterfly including: Zebra Heliconian, Julia Heliconian, Cloudless Sulphur, and another new one for me, Large Orange Sulphur (Phoebis agarithe). I tried my best to snap a few pictures but these guys were all over the place. Though Andy and I almost melted in the very hot temperatures we had a very productive day with one lifer bird and a couple of new Lepidoptera.
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