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Posted by Vince Lucas on 23:14:06 04/07/07
Today, 04/07/2007, visiting New Jersey birder Peter Burke and I left Naples bright and early (4:30AM) to make it to the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow locale, west of the Mahogany Hammock turnoff in Everglades National Park, shortly after first light. More on that later. After stopping to gas-up and get coffee and donuts in Naples, we arrived at the junction of S.R. 9336 and Krome Avenue in Florida City about 7:00AM. While at the traffic light at this intersection, I heard a Gray Kingbird calling its plaintive call and so we stopped to find it as this would be a lifer for Peter. Within a few minutes we located the bird which was a FOTS for me. Also present near this site were several Common Mynas which was another lifer for Peter. From there we stopped at "Robert Is Here" fruit stand to see the Purple Martins. We found one lone PUMA among the hordes of House Sparrows that inundated the high-rise martin houses. This, too, was a lifer for Peter, or so he said. A jaunt around "Flynn's" didn't yield much except a Prairie Warbler and the "usual" suspects. No Scissor-tailed Flycatchers nor Western Kingbirds were seen. Running behind schedule, we bee-lined it for the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow locale. A government license-plated truck was already there, and in the distant glades on the north side of the main park road, we saw three individuals setting up a mist net operation. I presume that one of the individuals was Dr. Gordon Pimm and two research assistants but I can't be sure. Anyway, we watched them as they attempted to herd a few Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows into the mist nets, apparently, unsuccessfully -- at least while we were there. On the south side of the main park road, we saw two more distant Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows briefly appear and the disappear into the sawgrass soon afterward. None were singing as far as we could tell. These were not satisfactory views for Peter and thus he was reluctant to call them as a lifer, even though we're positive that that's what these birds were i.e. Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows. After giving up on the sparrows, we headed for Mahogany Hammock where we had the following migrants: a beautiful male Cape May Warbler (in breeding plumage), Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, several Black-and-white Warblers, two Prairie Warblers and a nice FOTS Summer Tanager. Other birds present were calling White-eyed Vireos, Gray Catbirds, Northern Cardinals and other common birds.
From Mahogany Hammock, we headed for Flamingo. On the way, we saw two Sandhill Cranes flying over the glades. I can't remember ever seeing Sandhill Cranes in Everglades National Park, but I'm sure they occur there. Paurotis Pond held a nice assortment of nesting Wood Storks plus the usual Common Moorhens, American Coots, Roseate Spoonbills, White & Glossy Ibis, etc. At West Lake, we found a nice male American Redstart and one scraggily-looking Royal Tern and little else. Mrazek Pond held Black-crowned Night-Heron, Blue-winged Teal, American White Pelicans and one Brown Pelican and both yellowlegs among others. At Snake Bight Trail we had another American Redstart, (heard only) Northern Waterthrush, Prairie Warbler, Common Ground-Dove and some other common birds. A Swallow-tailed Kite flew over the main park road on the way to Flamingo from West Lake. Just before the marina, on the bit of open habitat off of the main park road, we found two Western Kingbirds and two Eastern Kingbirds. We could not locate any Scissor-tailed Flycatchers. Eco Pond (a sad state of decay) held a Black-necked Stilt, both yellowlegs and a dozen or so Dunlin as well as our only Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler of the day. From the observation/skyway/walkway at the Flamingo Visitor's Center, we saw the following birds on the sandbar and waters in the bay: American White Pelican; Caspian & Royal Terns; Black Skimmer; Laughing, Ring-billed & Herring Gulls; Willet; Least Sandpiper; Reddish Egret; Great White Heron and other common birds. The whole group of birds on the sandbar were harrassed several times by a marauding Peregrine Falcon. All around the Flamingo area were many migrant Barn Swallows hawking for insects.
The best bird at the marina was a Wurdemann's Heron who cooperatively posed for close-up photos. You can see a few of them in my Flickr gallery below. Our last stop in the park was at Long Pine Key where about the only birds we could come up with in the heat of the day was a Pine Warbler and eastern Towhee along with the "usual" Great Crested Flycatchers, Gray Catbirds and Northern Cardinals.
After leaving Everglades National Park, we had the customary, celebratory milkshake at Robert Is here fruit stand and then made a beeline up the Florida Turnpike and I-95 to Old Griffin Road where at about 4:30PM, we saw four Smooth-billed Anis (another lifer for Peter) at the 800 Technology Building. They were in the southeast corner of the powerline cut. A photo of one of the birds can be found in my Flickr photo gallery below.
If anyone wants a complete list of the birds we saw today, please contact me off list. All in all it was a great day of birding for both Peter and myself.
Vincent Lucas
Naples, FL
vplucas@comcast.net
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leppyone/
http://www.caloosabirdclub.org
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