Posted by Jeff Weber on April 28, 2003 at 13:14:24:
A group of just five intrepid birders undertook the Key Biscayne walk on Saturday, April 26 (evidently, everyone else had heard the weather forecast). I had arranged access to the grounds of the Cape Florida light earlier in the week, so we got to wander around these hallowed pathways for an hour or so, until the winds picked up to around 40 mph in advance of the rapidly moving storm cells. With thunder and lightning in abundance and swaying coconuts threatening to knock someone senseless, we bid a hasty retreat to a large picnic shelter, but even there it was a trick to stay dry. Up to that point, birds had been elusive, with only a few warblers to be found: Prairie, Redstart, B.T. Blue, a few Blackpolls. Frigatebirds hovered overhead, and a couple of Merlins sat around waiting for weary migrants, but I think the falcons went hungry that morning, as wind-fueled warblers mostly shot right past us (presumably, on their way to A. D. Barnes). We did find a pretty little Ringnecked Snake on the trail, which most obligingly did its warning/distraction bit, waving around the red underside of its coiled tail.
The walk ended around 10:30, when everyone abandoned hope of ever seeing dry land again.