Smooth-billed Ani

 Sunday March 2nd

Today was my second visit to Atlantic Mill Road, east of Clewiston, in search of the reported Smooth-billed Ani.  Had dipped on my first visit so I needed to return. The location is a popular birding hot spot.

Smooth-billed Anis had moved into south Florida from the Carribean sometime back about a hundred years ago.  By the 1940s and 1950s they had become rather common in Florida. But their population collapsed so that today they have become rare to uncommon in Florida.

Spent two hours exploring along the canal, along with a few other birders, and as I was leaving I luckily got flagged down by a couple who had located the bird. Nice.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S216249800

https://myfwc.com/media/19790/bba_sban.pdf

https://www.10000birds.com/the-fate-of-the-florida-anis.htm

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2015/09/25/rare-bird-declines-in-south-florida-as-state-delays-protection-decision/

Smooth-billed Ani

Wednesday January 2nd

On my second attempt to catch-up with the Smooth-billed Ani that is hanging out around an area called the Ani Pond at Ding Darling's Bailey Track, got to see the bird. Special thanks to Ed Combs for his locating the bird for all of to see.

The Smooth-billed Ani is now considered a rare bird in Florida as it has been pretty much extirpated through out the Florida. This was a species that made its appearance in the early 20th Century here in Florid.a. Having arrived on its own from the Caribbean and Cuba.  Its numbers grew and became a very commonly seen bird. Several experienced birders I know have commented on how it was easily seen on Sanibel at one time.  But for some unknown reason the population has died out,  No doubt the influx of a number of recent sightings of vagrants  around Florida are probably the result of recent weather patterns.  Nice to see though.

Fort DeSoto Birds

Tuesday, January 17th

Ft DeSoto Park, in Tampa Bay, is a Go-To place to bird, especially during migration. Currently, though we have a couple of special birds there making it worthwhile for a day trip.

Smooth-billed Ani

We currently have a lone Smooth-billed Ani wintering on the island. This species comes into  Florida from populations in  Cuba. They have historically been uncommon in Florida, but there was a big increase in their population in the southern half of the state in the mid 20th century. However, starting in the 1970's their population has crashed and are now considered to be very uncommon today. So today, with my daughter Katie, come to Ft DeSoto to see the Ani.

Another uncommon species to spend the winter in Florida is the Lark Sparrow. A single bird is wintering on the island in the company of Palm Warblers. We did not see the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers that are being seen the campground entrance.

Besides the Ani and the Sparrow , we had some good looks at Red-breasted Mergansers and Nanday Parakeets.

Nanday Parakeets

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

American White Pelican

Ospreys are extremely common here

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

Tuesday, July 21st

Today Bob Pelkey and I traveled from Ft Myers across the state to Palm Beach County to visit Loxahatchee NWR. We were twitching today to find a lifer.

 I had dipped on finding a Smooth-billed Ani several times, but we knew about the highly reported pair of these birds being seen by many birders on the Marsh Trail at Loxahatchee.

And today they were cooperative.

We arrived just before nine a.m. and did not have to wait very long. There unique call easily identified their approach and were kind enough to pose for a few pictures. Lifers!!

In our time here we also added a King Rail, Common Gallinules, Limpkin, Snail Kite, Black-necked Stilts and a few waders.

Smooth-billed Ani on the Marsh Trail

Before leaving the refuge we checked out some muddy cells at the entrance where we saw a lot more Black-necked Stilts, Least Sandpipers, a couple Solitary Sandpipers, more Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and many more waders.

Black-necked Stilt

Earlier we had a slight delay when we spotted a flooded field on Sam Senter Road. We had many Black-necked Stilts, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, a couple of Least Sandpipers, Rosette Spoonbills, a Least Tern, some Mottled Ducks and all of the expected waders.

As we were heading back toward home, we stopped to investigate some rice fields. Lots of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a trio of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, more Yellowlegs, Black-neck Stilts and waders were seen. 

Limpkin on the Marsh Trail

Great Blue Heron on the Marsh Trail

 In a few weeks we'll return to the Everglades Ag Fields to spot the many anticipated migrating terns, gulls, shorebirds and grass peeps that should be arriving.. Maybe I can find some buff-breasted sandpipers, which is another bird i've dipped on in the past.

Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks in the rice fields

Fulvious Whistling-duck laying low in the rice

Tricolored Heron

Little Blue Heron on the Marsh Trail

Swamp Lily seen along the Marsh Trail

Red-whiskered Bulbul - A Visit to Miami-Dade County

Tuesday March 23rd

Today I headed across the state to Miami-Dade County to look for exotics. First stop was in a restaurant parking lot in Miami to look for Bronzed Cowbirds.  Though not exotic they are an expanding, invasive species.

Bronzed Cowbirds in Miami

Found a flock of about fifteen of the cowbirds, plus other invasive/exotic species in European Starlings, House Sparrows, Eurasian Collared Doves and a lone Common Myna.

A few minutes south of the restaurant is the suburban town of Kendall, which is home to a large variety of exotic species. Two much sought after and countable exotics are the spot-breasted oriole, from south Mexico and Central America and the Red-whiskered Bulbul from India. These two are nemesis birds as I have searched for them several times. The neighborhood just north of the Kendall Baptist Hospital campus is a popular sight to check for the bulbul and finally today I spotted a pair on the telephone lines behind  a residence. LIFER!!! Also seen in the neighborhood were Loggerhead Shrike, White-winged Dove, Monk Parakeets, Mitred Parakeets, Fish Crows, Blue Jays and Northern Mockingbirds

Egyptian Goose in Kendall

On the campus of the hospital I got better looks at the the Mitred parakeets as well as Anhingas, Ring-billed Gulls, various domesticated waterfowl including Muscovy Ducks and another exotic in an Egyptian Goose. The Egyptians are slowly expanding in Florida, preferring sights like golf courses and parks, with short grasses and ponds.  I first saw this species on the golf course next to my Mom's condo in Pembroke Pines a few years ago.

My final stop was at Matheson Hammock County Park in Coral Gables. Was hoping to see hill mynas and any parrots, especially chestnut-fronted macaws.  The park was very quite. Found a Prairie Warbler and some Coots. I did here an occasional parrot, including the squawk of a macaw.  But none were seen. There
is a small flock of blue and yellow macaws that are found in the Coral Gables/University of Miami area.

A week earlier I was lucky to have spotted another Florida specialty and nemesis bird in a Smooth-billed Ani. I had returned to Glades County near LaBelle to look for Crested Caracara and Florida Scrub Jays, and on my way home had an ani fly across Rt 80 a couple of miles west of LaBelle. I have made several attempts at locating this bird at reported locations in Ft Lauderdale and the Everglades the past few years. Now I have one unexpectedly cross my path. Cool!! The smooth-billed ani is common bird in the Caribbean and South America and was once common in south Florida, but is now disappearing.

Purple Gallinule

Dade County Birding - The Search for a Smooth-Billed Ani
February 22, 2010

Elected to twitch after lifers today.  My options were to head north to Sebastian Inlet for the harlequin duck or south after the reported smooth-billed ani at the Anhinga Trail at Royal Hammock in Everglades National Park and then a jump over to Key Biscayne to the LaSagre Flycatcher at Bill Baggs State Park. Even with rain, I chose to go south.  The distance was shorter and a two-for-one was a possibility.

Checked out the scissor-tailed flycatcher roost on Florida City on Sw314th were we found four camera shy birds. Then  a quick stop at Lucky Hammock hoping for a few raptors and maybe warblers and such. Found several kestrels and northern harrier. The best bird here was a Brown-crested Flycatcher. It is a very rare wintering bird to south Florida.

A smooth-billed ani had recently been located along the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades and appeared to be very dependable. Well, this species is one of my nemeses birds. It is a bird found in the West Indes and had become a common south Florida bird after its arrival here, on its own.  But now it has become quite rare. A small population has been identified along Old Griffen Highway in Ft Lauderdale, near the airport. I have been there at least eight times to search out the anis, always without success. It seems to be a matter of luck. So an opportunity of a dependable bird was enticing. reports seemed to indicate it was easily found along the trail in the morning and was not very shy.  See the link below for a photo of it.

Well we looked for about four hours in a morning and afternoon session. A volunteer at the park commented that it seemed the bird came out late and she had a photo of the bird she had taken yesturday. She also commented on when the bird arrived it was the greeted by a great many of birders and cameras.

http://tropicalaudubon.org/tasboard/messages/33508.html

Did get some good looks at several Purple Gallenules, and a great many wading birds.  There were a few tree swallows, but did notice a single Purple Martin. Had a fly over of a White-Tailed Kite, and had to be a hundred Black Vutures hanging around and unafraid of all the people.  Fact is most of the animal life here were people friendly.

The Gumbo Limbo Trail was a bit birdy.  Had the usual Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, Cardinals, a couple of Black & White Wablers, a Black-Throated Green Warbler and a Louisania Waterthrush.

Drove all the way down to Flamingo to look for the American Crocodiles, but it being a wet cloudy day, they were not sun bathing along the canal by the marina. Not much else was around either. A couple of Osprey and a few laughing Gulls.  An American White Pelican could be seen out in the bay and several Brown Pelicans were resting in the mangroves.

Because of the time wasted looking for the ani and the inclement weather, we blew off the trip over to Key Biscayne and headed for home. Did find a flock of about 40 Common Mynas in Homestead as we were gassing up the car.

My total day count was 60

My list - Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, White-tailed Kite, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Killdeer, Laughing Gull, Barred Owl, Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Black-throated Green Warbler, Palm Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Eastern Towhee, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Boat-tailed Grackle, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Mourning Dove, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Common Myna, Ring-billed Gull, Rock Pigeon, Eurasian Collared-Dove, White-winged Dove, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Purple Gallinule 

Eastern Phoebe

Northern Cardinal

Palm Warbler

Palm Warbler

Wood Stork

Juvenile Wood Stork

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Black Vultures

Lots of Gators