Spring Migration

Wednesday April 8th

Hooded Warbler at Sanibel Lighthouse,
 Photo courtesy of Tammy McQuade

Spring migration has arrived here in Southwest Florida. The waterfowl, sparrows, harriers and yellow-rumped warblers have departed. The dunlins, dowitchers and piping plovers will be gone soon.  And the neo-tropics are now passing through.

Weather conditions dictate what, if any, migrants passing through will stop here for a rest. A week ago we had a very nice land-fall of warblers and swallows. The lighthouse on Sanibel Island is the spring hot spot for birding these resting birds. I visited there this morning and most of our earlier visitors had already moved on. Was able to see my FOS sightings of Magnificent Frigatebird and Barn Swallows, plus a Worm-eating Warbler, a single Palm Warblers and a gorgeous Prairie Warbler.

But that earlier land-fall was very rewarding.  I couldn't participate till the third day when I was able to see a Swainson's Warbler, several Hooded Warblers, a Worm-eating Warbler, many White-eyed, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos. Also saw Prothonotary, Northern Parulas, Black-and-White, Prairie and Palm Warblers. A beautiful Swallow-tailed Kite was hunting the tree tops as well. Dipped on the Kentucky Warbler and Oven Bird observed by others.

A rare to our area cave Swallow at Sanibel Lighthouse.
Photo courtesy of Tammy McQuade

On the first couple of days of this land-fall exhausted Barn, Tree, Cliff and even a rare to our area Cave Swallow were observed. All of the previously mentioned warblers and vireos were reported. Gray and Eastern Kingbirds, Indigo Buntings and a suspected Lazuli Bunted have also been reported. I had a suspected first season female cerulean warbler at Six-mile Cypress Preserve.

Swainson's Warbler at sanibel Lighthouse,
 Photo courtesy of Tammy McQuade

Hopefully we'll be treated to more colorful migrants passing through. Another interesting spring migrant are a hand full of Greater Flamingos that have been returning to an isolated and off-limits sight in western Palm Beach county. Seem that varying numbers of these birds have been visiting in the spring for the last several years. The word got last year about this population and the Miami Herald posted an article about a count of 143 at that time.  So far this year only eight have been reported.  Limited access has been made available by reservation, but quickly filled up. My friends Dr Jose Padilla and Dave and Tammy McQuade managed to participate in the first tour of the sight and were successful.

Greater Flamingos seen at STA 2 in  Palm Beach County
 Photo Courtesy of David McQuade

So many visitors to Florida think that they have seen a flamingo, by misidentified the much more common Rosette Spoonbill. But they can be seen, rarely,  even on occasion in our area.

 The best bet is a winter visit to Snake Bight. This is a shallow section of Florida Bay abutting Everglades National Park. Access here is either walking the Snake Bight Trail to its terminus or kayaking to the location from the marina at Flamingo.

Birding the Florida Keys and Miami - Day Three

Wednesday June 11th

Ibis and Greylag Geese at Kendall Baptist

Wednesday morning we again had an early start, leaving Marathon and heading back toward home. Stops were made to recheck for the neotropic cormorant and golden cuban warblers along Card Sound Road with the same results as on Monday. Before reaching the city environs of Dade County, we made a quick check in the Lucky Hammock area outside of the Everglades National Park with idea of maybe sighting white-tailed kite.  no kite but we a look at a strange lizard that was later identified as a basilisk lizard, which is native to Central and South America. It bolted before we could get photos.

We passed through Florida City where we added Common Myna to our exotics list of birds. There is a long list of exotics living in the Miami area and this was our next leg on the trip. We made the required visit to the Kendall Baptist Hospital campus and the neighborhood to the north.  We actually found only a few species of exotics here to include the large flock of Mitred Parakeets that reside here and several Muscovy ducks and a family of Egyptian Geese. We did add a pair of Coopers Hawks too.

Egyptian Geese

that reside here and several

Next we visited the Coral Gables campus of the University of Miami.  A couple of years ago we had an excellent experience here.  Today we had to work a bit harder to find and succeed in finding a large flock of Red-masked Parakeets was seen. Not much else was seen.

With rain moving-in we elected to cut the day short to one last stop. Caribbean Cave Swallows were reported nesting in over-passes across the Snapper Canal in Kendall. We headed over the intersection of SW 72 St and Snapper Creek Drive.  At first it appeared to be another miss. But then one appeared, then another, then a couple more as they zipped in and out of the under-pass. From here we ended the trip and headed back to Ft Myers. But I'd say I need to revisit Dade County.

A juvenile Cave Swallow

Mitred Parakeet

 Trip List

Mitred Parakeet

 Egyptian Goose, Muscovy Duck, Mallard (Domestic type), Red Junglefowl,  Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Brown Booby, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Brown Pelican,  Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Osprey, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Common Gallinule. Sandhill Crane, Killdeer, Laughing Gull, Brown Noddy, Sooty Tern, Bridled Tern, Least Tern, Roseate Tern, Rock Pigeon, White-crowned Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Burrowing Owl, Common Nighthawk, Antillean Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Monk Parakeet, Mitred Parakeet, Red-masked Parakeet. Great Crested Flycatcher, Gray Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Black-whiskered Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Fish Crow, Purple Martin, Cave Swallow, Northern Mockingbird, Common Myna, European Starling, Prairie Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Shiny Cowbird and House Sparrow.

Mitred Parakeet

Roseate Tern & Antillean Nighthawk

Birding the Florida Keys
Memorial Day - May 31st

  With the winter seasonal birds having headed north and having reached the  end of the migration season, birding in southwest Florida really slows down.  But, there are still have birds to find. Two very localized birds we usually only find in the Florida Keys are Roseate Terns and Antillean Nighthawks.
The roseate terns, is uncommon and are a very pelagic bird. Usually can best be found as they nest in late spring and early summer. A location often mentioned as an accessible nesting site is on the roof of the Marathon Government Center building in Marathon Key. Dozens of roseate and least terns nest on the rooftop and can be observed as they flew about.

  The Antillean Nighthawk is a close relative to the common nighthawk, are mostly native to the Bahamas.  They are very similar in appearance, but they can be separated by their vocalizations. The Antillean nighthawk is uncommon here, but can be found in the Florida Keys. The most mentioned location for finding any is to be at the Marathon Airport at dusk and listen for their vocalizations.

   So for Memorial Day I elected to drive round trip from Ft Myers to the Keys for these Florida specialities that I have yet to add to my life list. But I also have a trio of nemesis birds, all Florida specialities, that are targets for this day as well. The Red-Whiskered Bulbul and Spot-Breasted Oriole in Kendell and the Smooth-Billed Ani in the Everglades. I have dipped on these three many, many times. Maybe today.

   Took off from Ft Myers about 5:30 am to head across the peninsula along the Tamiami Trail (US41), to Krone Street and then south to US1, scheduling stops in Kendell, The Everglades National Park, Key Largo, and Marathon Key.

   Stopped at Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, just east of Collier-Seminole State Park in Collier County at about 7am. Just a quick stop to check out the new facilities here. The stop was quick mostly because the deer flies were terrible. Did find a calling limpkin, moorhens, and a king rail that I only heard. I would have waited for it to come out in the open but the flies eliminated that option.

MITRED PARAKEET  

Got to the Kendell Baptist Hospital campus around 8:30am and spent about a half hour scouting the neighborhood north of the hospital in search of the bulbul and the oriole. Both of these birds are ABA countable exotics that have become established in the Miami-Dade area, centering on Kendell. Even with very recent reports, noting the exact blocks to check out, I came up empty. Monk Parakeets were easily located though.  Crossed back over to the hospital campus were a noisy, active flock of Mitred Parakeets were in the parking area.

MITRED PARAKEETS AT PLAY

LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE

   Had a good look at Loggerhead Shrike, and Muscovy Ducks were everywhere.  As I was about to leave, a bit disappointed with only finding a single species of parrot here, I noticed my first Gray Kingbird of the season. It was sitting on a wire, occasionally hopping off to chase a bug and then back to its post.  As I was trying to get close enough for a photo, saw a trio of swallows actively flying about. Seems to me that they were Cave Swallows, probably from the nearby colony at Cutler Ridge. The cave swallows were a nice surprise.

   A Juvenile Green Heron


Next stop was at Everglades National Park and the Anhinga Trail located at Royal Hammock. Was looking for the smooth-billed ani and spent an hour in the search. The ani was not present during my stay.  Had lots of nesting Anhingas, but all of the black vultures are now gone.  The most numerous wading bird were Green Herons. 

Common Myna

   Before reaching the Everglades National Park I was able to spot a couple of White-Winged Doves and a trio of juvenile Purple Martins in the Florida City area. Later while stopping in Homestead had a few Common Mynas.

Nature Trail at Dagny Johnson

By 2pm had made it to Key Largo.  So far the holiday traffic is fine while heading south.  North bound traffic is another story.  Stopped at Key Largo at the Dagny Johnson State Park, which is home to Florida's largest remaining stand of West Indian hardwood forest. Target birds here include the mangrove cuckoo, black-whiskered vireo, white-crowned pigeons and more gray kingbirds. Last time I was here, we had lots of mosquitoes. But today was hot but free from the pests. The woods carried the calls from Northern Cardinals and Black-Whiskered Vireos, and were the only birds seen today.

   Heading south from the state park, the north bound traffic was extremely heavy and slow, saw a few of my first White-Crowned Pigeons of the day and several more Gray Kingbirds.  Magnificent Frigatebirds could be seen too. Also commonly seen were Eurasian Collared Doves and Mourning Doves. Even saw a couple of common mynas in flight.

Reached mile-marker 48 about 3pm, which is also on Marathon Key and the location for seeing the Roseate Terns. Here on the roof of the Marathon Government Center are the nesting Roseate and Least Terns. They could be seen flying about many bringing food back to the nest. Was able to see several of each bird from the parking lot and on pilings on the water behind the building.The Roseate Terns can be seen here, but too far for my camera to get a better shot.

 

Because it was too early for siting the Antillean Nighthawk at the Marathon Airport, I elected to extend the trip to Key West with a stop at Key Deer National Refuge. Saw three of the miniature deer as they cross the road in front of me. They are only found here and are federally protected species. The buck (his growing antlers in velvet) was larger than the pair of does seen here.

Key West was very congested and I was too hot and tired to do much exploring.  Took a short break and started heading back to Marathon. Missed on seeing any of the Key West chickens, but did find more White-Crowned Pigeons, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds.

  It was fifty-miles back to the Marathon Airport and even with stopping to eat I was still early. Gave a jump to a fella with a dead battery at the airport location while waiting there for sun down and the nighthawks. This guy informed me that an owl came out every night to sit atop the electric pole just a few feet away. Which was intriguing. But by now I was also anxious to head for home. A long four drive was ahead of me. I felt so lucky when the Antillean Nighthawk made its appearance at 7:30pm. A good half-hour to fourty-five minutes yet till dark. First because I nailed another LIFER and because I don't have to wait anymore. I didn't wait for the appearance of the owl.  I took off for home.

   The trip home amplified the negative aspects of day tripping the Keys on a holiday.  That north-bound road congestion had not abated. It took some three hours just to travel the 70 miles back to Homestead and I did not get home till about 1:30 am. Was it worth it? I got a couple of lifers, but I would prefer in the future to travel with patrner, rent a car ( the trip was 600 miles), get a room and use two days.  And mostly avoid the holidays.

Memorial Day List - (44) Muscovy Duck, Brown Pelican, Double-Crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Magnificent Frigatebird, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Green Egret, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, King Rail, Common Moorhen, Limpkin, Killdeer, Laughing Gull, Least Tern, ROSEATE TERN, Royal Tern, Rock Pigeon, White-Crowned Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-Winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Monk Parakeet, Mitred Parakeet, ANTILLEAN NIGHTHAWK, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Gray Kingbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Black-Whiskered Vireo, American Crow, Fish Crow, Blue Jay, Purple Martin, Cave Swallow, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, Red-Winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-Tailed Grackle, House Sparrow, Common Myna