Rainy Day in Miami

Sunday April 23rd

Spring migration can be fun or frustrating for Florida Birders. It all depends of the weather conditions. So far birding activities have been slow till today. With arrival of very much needed rain and westerly winds, we're starting to see some action.

The rains also coincided with a short birding vacation I had been planning for several weeks with the idea of heading for the Florida Keys and southern Miami-Dade  County for neo-tropical migrants, as well as, South Florida specialties.

So, today it's raining. But that is actually a good thing for several reasons. Mostly though, is the fact that in this end of Florida the dangers from brush fires is quite real. In fact, as I am traveling across Alligator Alley toward my destination, smoldering, smoking, blackened remnants of has been labeled the Cowbell Fire in the Big Cypress Preserve can be seen from the highway. There's a large brush fire at Merritt Island NWR their calling the Black Point Fire, and locally in 7,000 residents had to evacuate their homes in Golden Gate Estates where several homes were destroyed and fire fighters even had to help rescue a trapped rhino from a ravaged exotic animal sanctuary.. A smaller brush fire in Lehigh Acres, near Harns Marsh was quickly contained, but more property was destroyed there as well.

Muscovy Ducks can been found in urban areas

through out Florida

Made my first stop on this trip at the Chapel Trail in Pembroke Pines.  It was a quick visit, were I was able to find a trio of Gray-headed Swamphens. Usually we can easily find them at Harns Marsh, but the marsh has been drying up and the Swamphens have had to move elsewhere.

Egyptian Goose

Then onto Kendal Baptist Hospital campus where the waterfowl didn't seem to care much about the rain. Lots of Muscovy Ducks, domestic breeds of geese and duck, a lone Egyptian Goose, a fly over of Mitred Parakeets, Common Gallinules, White Ibis, Fish Crows and House Sparrows.

Crossing over to the north side of Kendal Road, I drove around this neighborhood in search of red-whiskered bulbuls. With the rain slowing down, thought that maybe they maybe  active. Didn't see any, but one feeder was hosting a trio of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.

The rains have slowed quit a bit now as I entered the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables. This location can be a great site for exotic parrots and other avian species. In the past we have seen Scaly-headed Parrot, Spot-breasted Oriole, Red-masked Parakeet, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, White-winged Parakeet, Chestnut-fronted Macaw and Common Hill Myna. Today I was able to add a pair of Blue and Yellow Macaws, a new bird for me, plus a single Scaly-headed Parrot and a flock of Red-masked Parakeets.

A Blue and Yellow Macaw

Scaly-headed Parrot

 After leaving the campus it was time to check-in at the hotel in Florida City, were after supper there was still time to make a run over to Aerojet Road, outside of Everglades National Park before dark.  Started with White-winged Dove and Common Mynas in town.  But near to the Park I encountered a flock of Peafowl.  Didn't expect that. As it was nearing dusk a number on Common Nighthawks were busy overhead and as I arrived outside at the Aerojet Road entrance to the Southern Glades Trail was  met by at least ten Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, a Gray Kingbird and a pair of Western Kingbirds, one of which I suspected was a Tropical Kingbird

Common Myna

A Peahen crossing the road

Western  Kingbird

Best bird seen today was the Barn Owl I spotted flying across the field where the Kingbirds were found. Another noticeable observation that so many of today's sightings were exotic birds. This area hosts a great many exotic plants, reptiles, fishes and bird life. The now infamous Python invasion is another example of a very negative  impact on the environment and Aerojet Road is a location that Python Hunters use locating and collecting these snakes

A Visit to the Conch Republic and Vicinities - Part 4

Sunday, May 25th  Memorial Day

White-winged Parakeets

Just spent Monday morning visiting a few spots around south Miami before heading back to Ft Myers. As today is a national holiday, the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables would be a good place to start the day looking for exotics.

No classes today, so the campus was very quite. And we were hopefully to finally experience the blue and yellow macaws that can sometimes be seen here. We  did see or hear the macaws, but we did find a pair of Common Hill Mynas, a couple of White-winged Parakeets, a single Red-masked Parakeet and lifers in seeing two pair of Scaly-headed Parrots (Pionus maximiliani). They scaly-headed parrots are species from South America.  All of the birds mentioned are local populations of escaped caged birds and their off-springs, that have managed to find a home in sub-tropical Miami.

A pair of Scaly-headed parrots 

Scaly-headed Parrots

Red-masked Parakeet

Affectionate Common Hill Mynas

Black-crowned Night-heron hunting small crabs in the rocks

A Green Anole

We moved on to recheck the campus of the Kendall Baptist Hospital and found the Mitred Parakeets busy feeding in the palm trees. A couple of Egyptian Geese were found at the smaller pond away from the Muscovy ducks, Graylag Geese, Swan Geese and other domesticated ducks on the larger pond.  Bob thought that the Egyptian Geese may have been nesting. 

Last stop for the trip was a location along Snapper Creek Canal for the nesting Cave Swallows seen there. Several were seen flying in and out from under the bridge. We also spotted what I think are Spiny-tailed Iguanas sunning themselves along the canal. 

From here it was time to end the birding and head home. We didn't get all of the photographic opportunities we were looking for, but it was a successful weekend. Next year need to go a few weeks earlier.

Egyptian Goose in Kendall

Great Egret at Kendall

Mitred Parakeet feeding in palm tree

 We found close to a hundred bird species including most of the Florida Keys avian specialties, many south Florida exotic birds and lizards and other south Florida native fauna including Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Key Deer and American Crocodile.

Spiny-tailed Iguana at Snapper Creek Canal

Monday's Bird List Swan Goose (Domestic type) Graylag Goose (Domestic type) Egyptian Goose Muscovy Duck Mallard (Domestic type) Great Egret Snowy Egret Tricolored Heron Green Heron Yellow-crowned Night-Heron White Ibis Common Gallinule Rock Pigeon Eurasian Collared-Dove Common Ground-Dove Mourning Dove Red-bellied Woodpecker White-winged Parakeet Scaly-headed Parrot Mitred Parakeet Red-masked Parakeet Gray Kingbird Blue Jay Fish Crow Cave Swallow Northern Mockingbird Common Hill Myna European Starling Northern Cardinal Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle House Sparrow

A Few Exotics in Miami

Tuesday May 26th

The semi-tropical climate in South Florida lends itself well as a new home for exotic plants and animals. A great many are considered to be pests and the most successful can be quite harmful to our local ecology. The rise of the Burmese Python population in the Everglades is a prime example. Ornamental plants and trees have also overtaken local flora like the expansion of the Melaleuca and Brazilian Pepper. Their is a bounty on the Lionfish, which has rapidly prospered on our Florida reefs, upsetting the ecological balance by becoming an aggressive top predator, prolific breeder with no known predators in the Atlantic Ocean. Iguanas have become established in most of South Florida with some getting  to be over four feet long.

 Not all invasives cause great ecological harm. Just a few minutes ago I spotted the House Gecko that has moved into my apartment. I don't mind its presence at all as he'll consume most any insect pests.  Many of the exotic bird species have not become major issues. The Monk Parakeet though builds huge nests artificial structures and have created damage such as electrical outages. But most of the many parrot species in south Florida aren't as disruptive the ecology as originally feared.

This past week-end Bob Pelkey and spent four days birding the Miami and Florida Keys area for exotics and came up with several.

Red-whiskered Bulbul in Kendall

Red-Whiskered Bulbul -  A native of eastern India,

Purple Swamphens - A common native in Africa, southern Europe, much of Asia including Indonesia, and Australia.

Purple Swamphen at Chapel Trail in Broward Count

Common Hill Myna - The Common Hill Mynas are a species of starlings and a very popular cage bird coming from the hill regions of southern Asia. 

Common Hill Mynas seen on the campus of the University of Miami

Egyptian Goose - These geese were once considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, but are currently a popular ornamental waterfowl. Escapees and there offspring have become more common in southeast Florida's parks and golf courses.

Egyptian Goose seen at Baptist Hospital campus in Kendall

Muscovy Ducks - The Muscovy Ducks we find all over south Florida are actually feral specimens of domesticated Muscovy ducks. 

Muscovy ducklings seen at Baptist Hospital in Kendall

Mitred Parakeet - Mitred Parakeets come from Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina. A large number of these birds can usually be found around the Baptist Hospital in Kendall.

Red-masked Parakeet - Red-masked Parakeets come from the western area of Peru.

Red-masked Parakeet seen at the University of Miami campus

Scaly-headed Parrot - Scaly-headed Parrots range from Brazil through Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. 

Scaly-headed Parrot seen on the University of Miami campus

White-winged Parakeet - Once a very common species in Miami, but its numbers have been falling as the Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.have been increasing.  Both species were once known as canary-winged Parakeets. White-winged Parakeets came from the northern Amazon River Basin.

White-winged Parakeet at the University of Miami campus.

Iguanas - Both Green and both species of Spiny-tailed Iguanas are found in south Florida. Theses populations have there start when iguana pet owners either loose or release the big lizards.

A spiny-tailed Iguana seen at the Snapper Creek Canal

Green Iguana seen on Key West

Other exotics seen included Common Mynas and a Brown Basilisk lizard