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Posted by Carlos Sanchez on 10:03:22 08/21/08
Alex Harper and I visited the Homestead Agricultural Area, The Annex, Everglades National Park (Flamingo/Eco Pond), and Cutler Wetlands on Wednesday to pull off a sort of half Big Day. We headed off to the Annex first and arrived there at around 9:45am. There were several migrants about, although most were not too obvious and hidden among the thickets. The best birds seen were BALD EAGLE (5), YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO, and ORCHARD ORIOLE (2, females).
Later on, we went to Homestead Agricultural Area to try and see the Horned Lark. It wasn't around at the time, apparently, at 10:30am so we headed off to Everglades National Park. Notable birds along the main park road were BELTED KINGFISHER, EASTERN KINGBIRD, and WHITE-CROWNED PIGEON. We arrived at noon at Flamingo Campground, where there was plenty of bird activity. Interestingly, there was a large congregation of GREAT EGRET, SNOWY EGRET, and CATTLE EGRET on a piece of saltmarsh with no darker hued herons joining them. We almost got eaten alive by mosquitoes past the Eco Pond along the beach. However, we saw many great shorebirds including WILSON'S PLOVER, DUNLIN, WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, WILLET, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, BLACK-NECKED STILT, LEAST SANDPIPER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, and SPOTTED SANDPIPER. Other great birds included ROSEATE SPOONBILL on the horizon, joining some birds which were also pink but seemed larger and taller than the spoonbills -- flamingos? BLACK SKIMMER, CASPIAN TERN, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, and REDDISH EGRET were also seen in the Flamingo area/mudflats. Also, a huge kettle of over 40 SWALLOW-TAILED KITES were seen heading south over Florida Bay.
We left Everglades National Park and arrived again to the area where the lark has been seen -- and there it was! HORNED LARK, plus many PECTORAL SANDPIPER and more WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER were seen.
Traveling up US1 to Cutler Wetlands and Dump Marsh, heavy rains stopped us from seeing too much but it is always exciting to see a COMMON NIGHTHAWK, at least.
Here is our total for the day, from 9:45am-3:30pm of birding:
Magnificent Frigatebird
American White Pelican (12)
Brown Pelican
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Green Heron
Tricolored Heron
Little Blue Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret (22)
Snowy Egret (13)
Great Egret (51)
Great Blue Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey (6)
Swallow-tailed Kite (40+)
Bald Eagle (6)
Red-shouldered Hawk (5)
Common Moorhen
Black-bellied Plover
Wilson's Plover (1)
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt (10)
Willet (4)
Spotted Sandpiper (1)
Ruddy Turnstone
Dunlin (1)
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper (~5)
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher (10)
Laughing Gull
Caspian Tern (1)
Black Skimmer (4)
Rock Pigeon
White-crowned Pigeon (1)
Eurasian Collared-dove
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Common Ground-dove
Monk Parakeet
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (1)
Common Nighthawk (1)
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
Gray Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
Black-whiskered Vireo (1)
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
American Crow
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Myna
Northern Parula
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Total Species seen: 73
Total Shorebird Species seen: 15
Carlos
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