N 26°28’46.36″ W 80° 8’30.05″ Google Earth location
This location’s pretty precise, because I remember distinctly where I was when I spotted the bird. In fact, this represents the only time that I’ve ever spotted a Wilson’s snipe (Gallinago delicata) in the wild – there remains a slim chance that I encountered one while working in wildlife rehab, but memory tells me it was probably a woodcock instead. Zooming in and out on this location illustrates a lot, actually, and it really has to be seen to be believed. Wakodahatchee Wetlands is a wildlife and wetlands reserve smack in the middle of the overpopulated gated community area of Delray Beach, Florida, and not the place you’d go looking for wildlife photos. I’ve related my (one) experience with it before, so go there for details, and I really do need to return, but it’s not close to other areas that I target when in Florida. Plus I haven’t even been in the state for over a decade, which is embarrassing. But yeah, when you go (and you will,) make sure you’re ready for audio recording as well. Looking at the aerial photos, would you expect to find alligators? Expect to find alligators. And more birds than you can imagine – referring back to those aerial photos, I’m almost certain those white blotches on the little tussocks in the middle of the water are all birds, or at least nests.
While there, you might also want to check out Green Cay Nature Center & Wetlands, about a block west-northwest – I had not, having only found it now on the map, and it’s possible that it didn’t even exist when I was there in… 2000? Somewhere around that time. The maps will reveal portions of the ecology of south Florida, because zooming out, you’ll see Lake Okeechobee to the northwest, which gathers the water that runs through central Florida, partially from the underground caverns that funnel water down from the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, and partially because it rains horrendously damn near every afternoon in the summer in Florida (the meteorologists tell me I’m exaggerating, but the residents tell me I’m understating it.) Anyway, this water flows out of the lake into the Loxahatchee Refuge, slopping over into Delray Beach and other bordering areas, but mostly runs south to form the Everglades – really, Florida is damn wet in most areas, and it doesn’t take a sharp eye to see all of the water management efforts installed to provide a semblance of dry land to the residents and developers. And this says nothing about getting hit with hurricanes way too frequently. It’s okay to visit, the subtropics being great conditions to find more exotic wildlife than most of the country, but you really wouldn’t want to live there.