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Posted by Vince Lucas on 12:24:34 03/12/06
Yesterday, Naples birder Alan Murray and I spent the day birding various locales in South Florida i.e. Lucky Hammock, Everglades N.P., Cutler Wetlands & Dump Marsh. At or near Flynn's, we ran into the Brevard County Audubon group. Noth much was happening at Flynn's except for a raucous Brown Thrasher and that we had up to 3 Cave Swallows (race undetermined) fly-over us among the many Tree Swallows present. These birds were unexpected. A stop at Lucky Hammock & the Annex didn't produce much except a stunning pair of Painted Buntings and several warbler species including Ovenbird, Northern Parula, Prairie, Yellow-rumped and Palm. The Bell's Vireo was a no-show at the Annex but we did manage to find two Purple Gallinules and several more warblers including two American Redstarts. Afterward, the Brevard group found several Grasshopper Sparrows near the beehives at the beginning of Aerojet Rd. and Alan and I had a Barn Swallow fly-by. We all then ventured over to SW217th Avenue just south of the Schnebly Winery where Brennan Mulrooney found the Yellow-headed Blackbird near the horse farm earlier in the week. Alan & I were too impatient to stay long enough to find the YHBL, but the Brevard group met with success. (Later in the day Alan & I would return to this locale where we would find the YHBL). We did see at least on other Cave Swallow fly-over at the YHBL locale.
As an aside, I note that the House Sparrows have completely taken over and pushed out all of the Purple Martins at the condos/houses at Robert's Is Here fruit stand west of Homestead. I've mentioned that this was happening to Robert in the past but he didn't seem to be too concerned even though he touts this locale to be the "Southernmost Purple Martin House in the USA" (which it isn't BTW).
Alan and I then ventured in to E.N.P. where birding was about the worse I've ever seen it in the park. The Anhinga Trail didn't produce much except the usual waders & nesters with the exception of a fly-over Swallow-tailed Kite. A lack of birds would be the theme throughout the day at E.N.P. The utter desolation at Flamingo had me floored. It will take years before this place gets back to normal IMHO, provided no other hurricanes hit the place. Best birds (if you can call them that) were Blue-headed Vireo & Yellow-throated Warbler at Mahoghany Hammock, one lone Roseate Spoonbill among the myriad White Ibis & other white birds at Eco Pond (which remains closed indefinitely). An American Crocodile at the Flamingo Marina along with perhaps a thousand Laughing Gulls was the other highlight of our E.N.P. experience. Oh, almost forgot, we did see many, many Orange-barred Sulphurs all over E.N.P. and we had a nice Baracoa Skipper right by our picnic table at Long Pine Key Campground while we ate our lunch. Leaving E.N.P. we went to get the YHBL as previously mentioned and then made a beeline for Cutler Wetlnds where we finally saw a few ducks and shorebirds. (Thanks Trey for the directions!) Highlights at Cutler Wetlands were two Roseate Spoonbills, a number of both Lesser & Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Shoveler, Mottled Duck & lots of American Coots. We next tried to find Dump Marsh from Trey's instructions. We finally did find it. Note to Trey: After heading south on SW97th, one crosses TWO canals not one and then turns left and parks at the gate to walk into Dump Marsh. Highlights at Dump Marsh, in the waning light, were one Black-necked Stilt, four dowitcher sp. (which one though -- too distant to tell), one Ring-necked Duck, Blue-winged Teal and a fly-over adult Bald Eagle. We ended the day with a little over 80 species but the birding was not what I usually come to expect for the areas we visited.
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