Jaeger
Tours Trip Report
South Florida and the Dry Tortugas, April 19th -26th 1999
by Adrian Binns
Miami is well known for all it's tropical flare, and the birds are no different. We began the trip with a taste of the Miami exotics, when Red masked Conures flew around the airport suburbs with Monk Parakeets, and finished hand feeding peanuts to a Florida Scrub-Jay.
From Red-whiskered Bulbul's, Spot-breasted Orioles's and Hill Myna's to Blue and Yellow Macaw's the colors and sounds are certainly clear, loud and bright. Not only are the exotic in Miami, but the exquisite also, as we were treated to Swallow-tailed Kite's gliding effortlessly around the pines in which they nest.
A group of nine prehistoric looking Smooth-billed Ani's where feeding amongst the overgrown weedy areas of a construction site. They are fast losing their habitat, and the numbers are dwindling at an alarming rate, but one would not have known that from the size of this family or the easy at which we found this species.
The latest edition to the exotics, is the successful breeding of Purple Swamp Hens, in the lakes in western Pembroke Pines. It makes you wonder whether these larger Asiatic cousins of the Purple Gallinule will displace them from certain areas ?
Unfortunately the Snail Kites at Shark Valley, the northern entrance to the Everglades, were hunting for Apple Snails in the distance, but we did get to see one fly by relatively close and also had an immature Sandhill Crane flying.
Our first full day, took us through the Keys, where we able to locate several very co-operative Mangrove Cuckoo's ( this is not an easy bird to view) to start the day in Key Largo, and finish with an incredible walk about Zachary Taylor Park in Key West. We never found our target bird, the Caribbean race of Short-eared Owl, the soon to be called Arawak Owl, but saw 13 warbler species, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blue Grosbeak and Black-whiskered Vireo. The evening ended with an unsuccessful wait for Antillean Nighthawk, but not before onlookers got to watch what must have seemed like a Chinese fire drill as 9 birders with binoculars stumbled out a van, holding up traffic in the middle of a Key West street, to look at White-crowned Pigeons, perched on the wires.
We caught the tail end of
an incredible fall-out on the Dry Tortugas. Surrounded by Sooty Terns, Brown
Noddies, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Warblers everywhere, we all rushed into
the fort to see an Arawak Owl in full view in a Buttonwood. What a way to start
what was an incredible 3 days. A juvenile Roseate Tern was very cooperative
on the coaling docks, Painted Buntings, Gray Kingbirds and Upland Sandpiper
were in the fort and Swainson's, Wood and Gray-cheecked Thrushes were in the
campground. Who will ever forget the Merlin that made a meal out of a female
Summer Tanager, right infront of us ? Or the Antillean Nighthawks that disrupted
our cookout, as they flew calling above us ?
The low shrubby area on Loggerhead Key, provided a wonderful array of about
100 warblers, including Blackburnian, Cape Mays, Blackpolls, and Black-throated
Blues as well as a Lark Sparrow.
We got close looks at a half dozen Brown Bobbies that were on the buoys and 43 Masked Bobbies on Hospital Key, as well as a most amazing display of Bridled Terns and Audubon Shearwaters that I have ever witnessed. Not all trips ( very few indeed ) are as successful as that pelagic trip.
The return trip through the Keys, produced Burrowing Owls feeding their well-grown young in the middle of the 15th fairway at El Sombrero Golf Course. At least the entranceway to the burrow wasn't facing the tee !
At the time the Everglades had not had any rain for over 80 days, consequently the water levels were very low, but luckily it hadn't effected the breeding colony of Wood Storks, Roseate Spoonbills and Egrets at Paurotis Pond, as the numbers of birds seem to increase yearly.
Of course, the Anhinga Trail lives up to its name. We saw at least a half dozen nests of Anhinga babies, baby Green Herons balancing precariously on branches only inches above Alligators who where waiting for them to make their first ( and last ) mistake, dozens of Alligators and stunning looks at a female Least Bittern that decided to stalk it's prey only feet away from us. If only we had our camera's........
At Flamingo we chased a Florida specialty, the Shiny Cowbird, who's numbers seem to be increasing, and were rewarded with a female and two males.
Evenings were spent successfully calling Barred and Great Horned Owls, and listening to Chuck-will's-Widows.
Not one , but two Key West Quail Doves were found during April in South Florida. the first one in Fort Lauderdale was an adult that proved pretty elusive, but the one on Key Biscayne, though an immature without the full iridescence, was much more co-operative.
Our final morning was spend
walking the wonderful elevated boardwalk at the Wakadohatchee Wetlands, where
we were able to view Least Bitterns, Least Terns, Purple Gallinules, Caspian
Terns, Limpkins, Mottled Ducks amongst the more common waders and waterfowl.
Well, what a trip, we got see almost everything that we had hoped for and more.
Despite " dipping " on two birds, the Black Noddy, that was a no-show
for the first time this decade and the Fulvous Whistling Duck which unfortunately
due to the raised water levels at Loxahatchee NWR, must have moved beyond our
viewing area, we ended up with a bonus bird, a " mega-tick " , the
Key West Quail Dove.
Our 8 day total was 194
species seen, of which ......
184 were ABA birds ( Common Loon; Pied-billed Grebe; Audubon's Shearwater; Masked
and Brown Booby; Gannet; White and Brown Pelican; Double-crested Cormorant;
Anhinga; Magnificent Frigatebird; Least Bittern; Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored
and Green Heron; Great, Snowy, Cattle and Reddish Egret; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron;
White and Glossy Ibis; Roseate Spoonbill; Wood Stork; Black and Turkey Vulture;
American Wigeon; Mottled Duck; Blue-winged Teal; Red-breasted Merganser; Osprey;
Swallow-tailed and Snail Kite; Bald Eagle; Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Red-shouldered,
Broad-winged and Red-tailed Hawk; Kestrel; Merlin; Peregrine; Sora; Purple Gallinule;
Moorhen; Coot; Limpkin; Sandhill Crane; Black-bellied Plover; Killdeer; Black-necked
Stilt; Solitary, Spotted and Upland Sandpiper; Ruddy Turnstone; Sanderling;
Semipalmated and Least Sandpiper; Dunlin; Short-billed Dowitcher; Snipe; Pomarine
Jaeger; Laughing, Ring-billed and Herring Gull; Gull-billed, Caspian, Royal,
Sandwich, Roseate, Least, Bridled and Sooty Tern; Brown Noddy; Black Skimmer;
Rock, Eurasian Collared, Whited-winged and Mourning Dove; White-crowned Pigeon;
Common Ground-Dove; Key West Quail-Dove; Monk, White-winged and Yellow-chevroned
Parakeet; Yellow-billed and Mangrove Cuckoo; Smooth-billed Ani, Eastern Screech,
Great Horned, Burrowing, Barred and Arawak Owl; Common and Antillean Nighthawk;
Chuck-will's-Widow; Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Belted Kingfisher; Red-bellied,
Downy and Pileated Woodpecker; Flicker; Eastern Wood-Pewee; Great Crested and
Sissor-tailed Flycatcher; Western, Eastern and Gray Kingbird; Loggerhead Shrike;
White-eyed and Black-whiskered Vireo; Blue Jay; Florida Scrub-Jay; American
and Fish Crow; Purple Martin; Tree, Rough-winged, Bank, Cave and Barn Swallow;
Carolina Wren; Red-whiskered Bulbul; Gray-cheecked, Swainson's and Wood Thrush;
Catbird; Mockingbird; Brown Thrasher; Starling; Cedar Waxwing; Blue-winged,
Tennessee, Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, CapeMay, Black-throated
Blue, Yellow-rumped, Yellow-throated, Pine, Prairie, Palm, Blackpoll, Cerulean,
Black & white, Redstart, Hooded and Worm-eating Warbler; Common Yellowthroat;
Ovenbird; Northern Waterthrush; Summer and Scarlet Tanager; Eastern Towhee;
Bachman's, Lark, Savannah and Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow; Cardinal; Rose-breasted
and Blue Grosbeak; Indigo and Painted Bunting; Dickcissel; Bobolink; Red-winged
Blackbird; Eastern Meadowlark; Common and Boat-tailed Grackle; Shiny and Brown-headed
Cowbird; Orchard, Spot-breasted and Baltimore Oriole; House Finch ) ; 3 were
morph's ( Reddish Egret, Great White Heron and Wurdleman's Heron )
and 7 were non-countable ABA birds ( Purple Swamp Hen, Mitred Conure, Red-masked
Conure, Blue and Yellow Macaw, Common Myna, Hill Myna and Muscovy Duck ). Very
good indeed.
Amongst the other wildlife
seen, were.....
19 species of Butterflies ( Ruddy Daggerwing, Gulf Fritillary, Julia, Zebra
Longwing, Mangrove Skipper. Black Mangrove Buckeye, Giant Swallowtail, Cloudless
Sulphur, Large Orange, Southern Cloudywing, White Peacock, Dainty Sulphur, Giant
Southern White, Monarch, Queen, Tropical Checkered Skipper, Canna Skipper, Long-tailed
Skipper and Black Tiger Swalllowtail ) ;
6 species of Dragonflies ( including Halloween Pennant, Red Saddlebags, 4-spotted
Pennant, Needham's Skimmer ) ;
4 species of Turtles ( Loggerhead, Green Sea, Soft-shelled and Red-bellied )
and 10 species of Mammals ( Key Deer, White-tailed Deer, River Otter, Oppossum,
Raccon, Nine-banded Armidillo, Bottled-nosed Dolphin, Gray Squirrel, Rat sp.,
and Vole sp. )