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 Visit to the Conch Republic and Vicinities - Part 3

Sunday May 24th

Ft Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park

Now Sunday was the cornerstone for this trip the sailing aboard the Yankee Freedom from Key West out to the Dry Tortugas National Park for a four hour visit.

Magnificent Frigatebird

As Bob Pelkey drove us southward through the Keys in the pre-dawn darkness back toward Key West, several Antillean Nighthawks could be heard. And as day broke, Gray Kingbirds, Eurasian Collard Doves, White-crowned Pigeons  and feral keys chickens were also greeting the day.

Arrived at the Key West terminal just as the crew were preparing to board today's passengers. The ride was a bit choppy and the sky was clear.  The Captain gave us a close pass by Hospital Key, were more than sixty Masked Boobies had a breeding colony.

A few minutes later we landed at Bush Key and historic Ft Jefferson. A flotilla of Magnificent Frigatebird sat hovering in the wind above the fort.  They, along with many hundreds of Brown Noddies and Sooty Terns nest on adjoining Garden Key. The Noddies, Terns and any (very late) spring migrants were the reason we traveled here.

There a few migrants to be seen. A lone Cliff Swallow and a lone Bank Swallow were hawking outside the fort.  While a lone Yellow-billed Cuckoo, several American Redstarts, a lone Common Yellowthroat and Bob had a female Blackpoll.

Interior of the Fort

The vast majority of the passengers took advantage of the wonderful snorkeling in the waters around the fort. Understood the one couple had a close encounter with an American Crocodile.  One of the mates on the boat confirmed that a crocodile named Cletus has been calling the Tortugas home for a for some time now.  He's seen it before himself.  A video found on youtube

Brown Noddy

Sooty Tern

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Back at Key West at bit after 5 PM, with that long drive to Florida City. But first we make a couple of stops. First were to find the accommodating and diminutive Keys Deer at the Florida Key Deer NWR on Big Pine Key.
This an endangered sub-species of White-tailed Deer seen only in the Keys.

A young American Redstart

Secondly was a stop at the Marathon Airport set before sundown to look for Antillean Nighthawks. We were joined by a couple of birders from Nashville, Tennessee. They had a lifer when the nighthawk made its appearance and shared with us a sighting of a Bobolink a couple a hundred yards down the airport fence line.  A nice ending for the day's birding.

Sunday's Bird List -- 

Bobolink at Marathon Airport

Magnificent Frigatebird

Masked Booby

Brown Booby

Double-crested Cormorant

Brown Pelican

Cattle Egret

Laughing Gull

Brown Noddy

Sooty Tern

Royal Tern

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Mourning Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Antillean Nighthawk

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Gray Kingbird

Bank Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Northern Mockingbird

Common Yellowthroat

American Redstart

Bobolink

Key Deer buck in velvet

Bob concentrating on a great shot of the Key Deer. Note the small size of the deer to Bob's right

A Visit to the Conch Republic and Vicinities - Part 2

Saturday, May 23rd

Saturday morning we headed out very early to make a run all the to Key West by 8:30. Before starting out Florida City,  Bob Pelkey could hear  a calling Chucks-will-Widow. The first bird for the day.

We did reach Ft Zachary Taylor Historical State Park on Key West by 8:30. Noted that there lots of feral jungle fowl (chickens) in the lower Keys. Another non-native that is found here were large numbers of invasive Green Iguanas. Some quite large.

We spent the remainder of the morning birding the park. White-crowned Pigeons were numerous, here and all through the Keys. Also present today were a few Eastern Kingbirds, Grays Kingbirds, Least Terns, Grackles and Magnificent Frigatebirds. Bob was able to add Bald Eagle, Barn Swallow and American Redstart.  

Green Iguana in Key West

 By noon we were heading back toward the Upper Keys. Made a stop at on Middle Torch Road on Summerland Key. Last year, at this spot we were getting good photos of Black-whiskered Vireos. The vireos continue to be active at this location, but today they would stay deep in the brush.  This would prove to a theme for the rest of the day.

White-crowned Pigeon

Part of the moat surrounding the bastions of Ft Zachary Taylor
Least Terns were active all around the fort

I believe that these blossoms are a species of Indian Blanket. Seen at Ft Taylor

Gray Kingbird

Coast Guard Cutter Thetis is stationed out of Key West

Royal Tern

                                                                                                                At the Marathon government center, Least and Roseate Terns have returned to nest up on the roof . 

This Roseate Tern is sporting a set of legs bands
Unable to read the leg bands code 

Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern

Next, at Key Largo, we stopped at Dagny Johnson State Park. This site contains the largest tract Caribbean Hardwood Hammock left in the Keys. We found the park to be very quite. Only heard Northern Cardinals, White-eyed Vireos and a pair of Mangrove Cuckoos. The cuckoos refused to leave the dense hammock for a photo op.

Lastly was a stop at the toll booth on Sound Card Road to look for Cuban Golden Warblers in the mangroves. We could hear the yellow warblers, but could only coax a Prairie Warbler to pose for the camera.

Red Junglefowl (Domestic type)

Magnificent Frigatebird

Double-crested Cormorant

Brown Pelican

White Ibis

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Bald Eagle

Common Gallinule

Laughing Gull

Least Tern

Roseate Tern

Royal Tern

Rock Pigeon

White-crowned Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

White-winged Dove

Mourning Dove

Mangrove Cuckoo

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Eastern Kingbird

Gray Kingbird

White-eyed Vireo

Black-whiskered Vireo

Fish Crow

Purple Martin

Northern Mockingbird

Common Myna

European Starling

Yellow Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

A Visit to the Conch Republic and Vicinities

Friday, May 22nd
Day One

Today is day one of a long weekend to do some birding in the company of wildlife photographer Bob Pelkey. Didn't start out as a Memorial Day holiday. As it was originally scheduled for the first week of May, to take advantage of the ebbing Spring Migration. But logistics forced this unfortunate change. Home base was in Florida City were room rates were far more realistic than in the Keys.

American Crocodile in Everglades National Park

It has become an annual event to head to the Florida Keys in the Spring to find several of the specialties that are usually only seen there. It started by chasing Antillean Nighthawks and Rosette Terns that are usually found in town of Marathon. But it has now expanded to a four day search for specialties from Dry Tortugas National Park west of Key West up to the urban environments of Miami. 

Leaving Ft Myers, we crossed the state along Alligator Alley watching the birds and especially Black-crowned Night-herons and Swallow-tailed Kites. First stop was on Sherman Road just off Krone near Pembroke Pines to look for Purple Swamphens at Chapel Trails park. Upon arrival I found that my memory card was missing for my camera so I missed getting shots of a Brown Basilisk lizard seen at the start of the board walk or of the swamphens.

Black-necked Stilt near Everglades National Park

 After a stop to replace the missing memory card we made the next stop to neighborhood just north of the Kendall Baptist Hospital for a search for Red-whisked Bulbuls. This is one of the best places to search for these exotic birds and in my dozens of attempts I usually dip on seeing any. Today we sighted three.  Looks like it could be a good start for the weekend.

Green Heron at the Kendall baptist Hospital campus

Red-whiskered Bulbuls in Kendall

 At the Baptist Hospital campus the expected flock of Mitred Parakeets were noisily moving around the property. The ponds also had the usual waders and waterfowl. Didn't see any Egyptian geese but the Muscovy ducks had lots of ducklings.

Next was a stop at Mathesson Park in Coral Gables. Looking for exotics or any lingering migrants. Probably arrived too late in the day as the place was very quite. Best birds here were a pair of Yellow-Chevroned Parakeets and hearing a calling Peafowl

We ended the day visiting Everglades National Park. The goal here was to look for white-tailed kite along Research Road.
We only found American Crows and Eastern Meadowlarks, dipping on the kites.

We headed directly to the end of the road to its terminus at Flamingo. Not very birdy but find Prairie Warbler, Spotted Sandpiper, a Willet, Osprey Brown Pelicans and raucous bottle-nosed dolphins thrashing about as they fish for their supper.

At the marina, an American crocodile came out almost on cue for photographs and a Shiny Cowbird briefly showed with a flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Mitred Parakeet are commonly found at Kendall baptist Hospital campus

Ended the day in Florida City were we watched Gray Kingbirds and Common Mynas


Birds for  Day One

Great Egret at Kendall Baptist Hospital

Swan Goose (Domestic type)

Graylag Goose (Domestic type)

Muscovy Duck

Mallard (Domestic type)

Mottled Duck

Northern Bobwhite

Wood Stork

Anhinga

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Cattle Egret

Green Heron

White Ibis

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Swallow-tailed Kite

Red-shouldered Hawk

King Rail

Purple Swamphen

Black-necked Stilt

Spotted Sandpiper

Willet

Laughing Gull

Rock Pigeon

White-crowned Pigeon

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Common Ground-Dove

Mourning Dove

Common Nighthawk

Chimney Swift

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Mitred Parakeet

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

Loggerhead Shrike

White-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Purple Martin

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Northern Mockingbird

European Starling

Prairie Warbler

Northern Cardinal

Red-winged Blackbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Common Grackle

Boat-tailed Grackle

Shiny Cowbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

House Sparrow Black-crowned Night-heron Common Myna Gray Kingbird Yellow-chevroned Parakeets Peafowl

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