Posted by Vince on May 04, 2003 at 21:44:32:
All:
Hopes of finding Bay-breasted and Blackburnian Warblers were quickly dashed this morning at A.D. Barnes Park in Kendall. Most of the warblers and migrants had moved on it seems. That is not to say that the two Vinces (Lucas & McGrath) along with the other birders in attendance e.g. Paul "Life is Good" Bithorn; look-alike to Wally George, Kevin Sarsfield; Jill Rosenfield (sorry for butchering your name Jill wink, wink); Brian Rapoza et al etc. didn't see any warblers, we just didn't see the warblers we wanted to see. Warblers we did see at Barnes were American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Black-and-white Warbler, Cape May (female) and Ovenbird. There may have been others. In fact, come to think of it, Vince McGrath and I heard a watherthrush calling -- probably a Northern. Other birds seen were Yellow-billed Cuckoo, White-eyed Vireo, Chimney Swift, Brown Thrasher and Purple Martin. A few leps seen at A.D. Barnes were Ruddy Daggerwing, Polydamas Swallowtail, Monk Skipper, probable Zarucco Duskywing and Fiery Skipper as well as a teeny (1.2-1.6 cm), but colorful, pyralid moth (Pyraulis tyralis, family: Pyralidae) whose larvae feed on Wild Coffee. Note to Paul B: This is the small moth I pointed out to you!
Let me backtrack a minute. The two Vinces left Naples about 5:45AM for Miami-Dade County. On our way, we saw the adult Bald Eagle sitting on its favorite telephone pole perch along U.S. Rte. 41 (Tamiami Trail) in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Collier County. We also had up to five Snail Kites at the abandoned airboat ride place, across from the Everglades Tower Inn on the Miccosukee Reservation in Miami-Dade County. Also present was a calling Eastern Kingbird. From this area, we made our way to Kendall where we first stopped at the McDonalds along SW 157th Avenue and Kendall Dr. (SW. 88th St.). Here we found several Common Mynas, Monk Parakeets and a few House Sparrows. In the neighborhood north of the Baptist Hospital we looked for more exotics. We found Red-whiskered Bulbul and Monk Parakeets readily, but try as we might, we could not find one Spot-breasted Oriole or either White-winged or Yellow-chevroned Parakeets. We did see a Mute Swan in a manmade lake though! Can I count this? Please? A White-winged Dove also graced us with its presence. From this location, we went to A.D. Barnes Park (cf. first paragraph.)
Ok, AFTER leaving the others at A.D. Barnes Park, the two Vinces took the Florida Turnpike south to the nesting West Indian Cave Swallow locale along SW 216th St./Hainlin-Mills Dr. We parked near the dumpster in the nearby apartment complex that borders the canal, where the Cave Swallows nest underneath the bridge. The West Indian Cave Swallows were easily found and seen. As we have found in the past, there were a few lizards present near the dumpster, probably Brown Basilisks (aka Jesus Christ lizard because of their ability to run over water!) They were extremely fast. Has anyone else seen these lizards there?
From the Hainlin Mills Dr. area we went to Matheson Hammock. There we could only locate a few migrants including Worm-eating Warbler, Ovenbird and American Redstart. We could not locate any exotics including our wished-for Hill Mynas and some other hoped-for psittacids. We did find some nice leps including a colony of Florida Whites in the hammock, Giant Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, Ruddy Daggerwing, Julia, Red Admiral & Monarch. Also seen were several HUGE, what I believe to be, Black Spinytail Iguanas along the mangroves. Question: does anyone know of the current status of the resident land crabs that used to be very common along the parking lot "edge" separating Matheson Hammock from Fairchild Tropical Gardens? We used to see them quite often at that location, but this time, given the recent parking lot expansion, we only found a few burrows for these critters.
Our next stop was the home of Betty Furchgott (6901 SW 96th St. in Kendall). Here I did see a pair of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets. Alas, her seed feeders mostly only attract Rock Doves these days. . . . A quick stop at the nearby Royal Palm Tennis Courts yielded a male Black-throated Blue, Cape May and a pair of Blackpoll Warblers in a fruiting Ficus tree near the entrance. Also seen were several Red-whiskered Bulbuls (adults and juveniles). One of the coolest sightings though was another lizard of some sort in the same fruiting Ficus tree. Vince McGrath called the saurian a Bark Lizard. However, when I looked at this reptile on the web, it didn't look anything like the one we saw. Our lizard had a whitish-yellow thick "line" traversing the length of its body. It was probably 18" long. It had a salmon pink dewlap. Any guesses?
On another nearby side street, by a relatively new county(?) or city(?) park (sorry, I forgot to write down the name), we saw our only White-crowned Pigeon of the day along with another pair of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.
Leaving Kendall behind, we made our way back to Naples by going down Loop Road from the Miami-Dade County end at Forty-Mile Bend. Loop Road traverses three counties: Miami-Dade, Monroe and Collier. We found Northern Parula, American Redstart, female Cape May Warbler, Barred Owl, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, etc. on the Monroe County portion of the road. However, our best find was an absolute "glowing" male Prothonotary Warbler singing from a perch north of the Sweetwater Slough area in Collier County. Prothonotary Warblers breed here I believe. Also seen was a nice Slaty Skimmer (odonate) and several Tiger Swallowtail butterflies.
Two Swallow-tailed Kites graced us with their presence on the return trip back up the Tamiami Trail to Naples.
In all, we had eleven species of warblers today but we had to work to get that many. Am I the only one who thinks that this year's spring migration is sub-average? For instance, thrushes of any sort have been absent or nearly so in Collier County and few birders have reported seeing many in other parts of South Florida. (North Florida excluded.) What do others think?
Good birding!
Vincent Lucas
Naples