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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 21:58:19 04/14/08
A couple of non-birding friends and I rented kayaks at Flamingo Friday morning and paddled out to East Cape Sable for a couple of nights of camping and exploring. While birding wasn t the primary object of the trip I couldn t help but notice a few birds, some of the more interesting of which were: Northern Gannets, Whimbrels, Peregrine Falcons, Merlin, Black-whiskered Vireos, and Yellow Warblers (Cuban Golden Race). A quick look around Flamingo after the trip turned up Shiny Cowbirds and Stilt Sandpipers.
Saturday morning a couple of Peregrine Falcons put on a show over the beach and a Merlin made a fast pass as we paddled into East Cape Canal on our way to Lake Ingraham. Several Yellow Warblers were singing in the mangroves along the canal along with many Prairie Warblers. We only poked a short distance into the southern end of the lake but we saw several Whimbrels along with thousands of Least Sandpipers and lesser numbers of the common shorebirds and waders. While we were packing to leave Sunday morning a flock of thirteen Northern Gannets gave us a great view as they rounded East Cape on there way out of the Gulf of Mexico. On the way back to Flamingo I stayed close to shore and heard a couple more Yellow Warblers; one on the mainland east of Curry Key and another on Bradley Key. I only heard one Black-whiskered Vireo and no Gray Kingbirds during the trip.
This is Crocodile nesting season and we saw numerous tracks on the beach along with about half a dozen Crocs on the beach or close to shore. Fortunately they were very timid and would take to the water if you got within a hundred yards of them. The fishermen were having good luck catching Snook from the beach and in East Cape Canal. There were no mosquitoes around and both evenings there was enough wind to keep the sand flies from being a problem. On Friday we had the treat of seeing the green flash at sunset.
Back at Flamingo there were six Stilt Sandpipers at Eco Pond one of which was coming into breeding plumage and there were a couple of male Shiny Cowbirds among the Brown-headed Cowbirds in front of the Visitor Center.
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