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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 22:33:24 12/02/07
Some of the more interesting birds seen during a visit late last week to Everglades National Park were: White-tailed Kite, Barn Owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, American Goldfinch, Yellow Warbler, Nelson s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, and Bronze Cowbird. Another highlight of the trip was finding a family of baby Crocodiles complete with nest and mom.
I got off to a late start Thursday (11/29) and didn t get to the Lucky Hammock area until late morning where the only interesting bird seen was a Magnolia Warbler. A run down Research Road turned up a couple of White-tailed Kites hunting between the large mounds southwest of the research facilities. American and Least Bittern, and Purple Gallinule were found at Anhinga Trail, and Black-throated Green and Black-throated Blue Warblers, and Hermit Thrush were the best birds seen at Royal Palm Hammock.
My only stops on the way to Flamingo were at Paurotis Pond and West Lake where little of interest was seen. At Flamingo a couple of female Bronze Cowbirds and a female Brown-headed Cowbird were working the marina parking lot. There wasn t much activity besides a few Black-necked Stilts and Blue-winged Teal on Eco Pond but after sunset a couple of Barn Owls began hunting earlier than usual around the perimeter trail giving much better than usual views. Later that evening Barred Owls called from the pond area as I enjoyed great views of Comet Holmes which was clearly visible to the naked eye in the constellation Perseus.
Friday morning I started at around sunrise at Eco Pond where a nice mix of warblers including a Yellow Warbler were feeding in the Strangler Figs and a flock of ten American Goldfinches were feeding in the Buttonwoods. I heard Goldfinches several more times during my visit to Flamingo. My main birding project that day was a walk down Bear Lake Trail where a Yellow-throated Vireo and fourteen species of warblers made it worth the walk but there was an unexpected surprise near the end. At the point where the view of Bear Lake first opens up to the south I was puzzled by a mound of disturbed roadbed several feet in diameter with depression in the middle. Almost immediately I heard soft splashing along the canal bank caused by what I soon realized were baby crocodiles not much more than a foot long, what I had come upon was almost certainly their old nest. After continuing to the end of the trail I returned to the nest with my camera ready hoping for a shot but the babies took to the water as I approached and as I neared the bank the head of what must have been the momma croc sank beneath the dark murky water inches from the canal bank. One of the babies surfaced close enough to the bank for me to get a couple of pictures before I realized that in my excitement I d forgotten that I was standing only a couple of feet from where I last saw momma. Fortunately, she stayed submerged and I stepped back a few feet and took a couple of shots of the nest then left the area.
That afternoon back at Flamingo the first of several Short-tailed Hawks of the weekend was seen along with a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and a Western Kingbird north of the road at the western end of the visitor center parking lot. After sunset a Barn Owl made several circuits around the coastal prairie north of B and C Loops in the closed part of the campground and at about 5:45 five Lesser Nighthawks appeared high over the tree line west of C Loop.
My Saturday morning project was a stroll down the Coastal Prairie Trail, the existence of which debatable. I took a detour along the Bayshore Loop and cut back through the old Cotton Pickers Camp which was a sparrow hot spot last winter but didn t scare up anything more interesting than a few Indigo Buntings. From there I headed northwest crossing the Trail into the traditional sparrow fields which took the brunt of the Hurricane Wilma storm surge and are slowly recovering. Little was seen in this area besides Common Yellowthroats and Savannah Sparrows but my first Peregrine Falcon of the trip made this part of the trek worthwhile. Working westward I finally reached the area where Toe found Sharp-tailed Sparrows last week and was able to find two Nelson s and three Salt Marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows along with a Marsh Wren. The flush and chase technique of seeing sparrows is a lousy system at best and totally insane in knee high Pickleweed (AKA Saltwort or Batis maritima) which is where the Sharp-tailed Sparrows like to hang out on Cape Sable. Fortunately these sparrows are curious birds and will hop up to see what s coming into there area and will also often hop up in response to spishing. The trick is not to scare them, once they re on the ground and running you don t have a chance.
After breaking camp and checking the sandbar off the Visitor Center where the most unusual bird was a Lesser Black-backed Gull I took an unusually unproductive walk down Snake Bight Road. A crew was finishing up the job of clearing and mowing the road which may have contributed to the absence of birds along the road and the tide was very low at the end and there was little to see there. The up side is that the road is in the best shape that I ve seen it in years and would be an easy bike ride to the end.
My only stop on the way out of the park was at the Long Pine Key Picnic Area to see Pine Warblers and bring my weekend warbler total for the park to seventeen species. Once out of the park I stopped after sunset at Lucky Hammock just in time to see six Lesser Nighthawks over the west tree line then work closer to the road. As it grew darker a Whipporwill started giving whip notes from the hammock and appeared a few times flying near the hammock as a Nighthawk made passes over the nearby fields.
Here are a few general observations. While there were Catbirds around, they were nowhere near as abundant as in recent years. Buntings were also unusually scarce; I saw no Painted Buntings anywhere and only a few Indigo Buntings in one location. The Goldfinches seemed a bit early, especially since I haven t seen any reports from further north, but they really seem to like Buttonwood seeds and there are plenty of them around Flamingo. While there were plenty of Kestrels and Red-shouldered Hawks, and a few Short-tailed Hawks around and I saw a couple of Peregrine Falcons I saw no Accipiters or Merlins in the Flamingo area. On Saturday, despite a northeast wind there was a noticeable west to east flight of what I m pretty sure were Great Pondhawk (Erythemis vesiculosa) dragonflies. I ve seen this in past years and it has been a bit of a mystery because these dragonflies don t range much north of South Florida and wouldn t seem likely to be a migratory species. There were a few mosquitoes, biting flies, and sandflies around but not enough of any to be more than a minor annoyance.
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