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Posted by Ken Blankenship on 23:37:58 04/08/09
Hi, folks. I was (enjoyably) away from the internet last night, spending a cool, breezy, and uncharacteristically bug-free night camping at Flamingo in the Everglades. What a beautiful place. I was coaxed into waking up extra early by a BARRED OWL asking who the chef of the campground was, and the gentle barks of BLACK-NECKED STILTS over in Eco Pond/mud hole. I left the rainfly off the tent last night, and with a virtually full moon casting blue light nearly as bright as sunshine and fast, whispy clouds flying by overhead, I think I ve had few if any equally surreal or wonderful evenings in nature anywhere, including in my favorite stomping grounds in the Blue Ridge Mountains of north Georgia.
Highlights from yesterday (Tuesday 4/7/09):
I split time between Key Largo and Everglades. On Key Largo, best experiences were a close-up encounter with a MANGROVE CUCKOO (decent photos, too) and upgraded views and a few photos of BLACK-WHISKERED VIREOS. I also ran into a couple flocks, and at one point in a single spindly tree were a dingy PALM WARBLER, a pretty YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER, and crisp, stunning male CAPE MAY and BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS! I saw my first HOODED WARBLER, YELLOW-THROATED VIREO, and RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD of the trip as well. The best bird of the day came almost at sunset, as I finally was able to scan the wandering flock of cowbirds at the Flamingo visitor center parking lot and relocated the male SHINY COWBIRD reported on 4/5/09; for a nuisance, he was very pretty in the warm afternoon sun and was enjoyed by me and some new birding friends from North Carolina that I ran into on Bear Lake Trail.
Highlights from today (Wednesday 4/8/09):
I headed to Flamingo visitor s center after some campground coffee (mmm, steep in the bag goodness!) to watch the sunrise. I was surprised and happy to find a large mud bank directly in front of the visitor s center! As the tide got lower, the bank got larger and birds kept coming in there were hundreds (1,000s more likely) by the time I left. The whole morning at Everglades was just different than the previous two. It seemed like more diversity of birds, greater numbers, new species, lots of action was going on. Migration and the impending nesting season were both palpable. It was awesome. I reluctantly left mid-day to pick up some urban Miami life birds, which was cool in its own way. Finally, I ended up at Micosukee Restaurant area for the last three hours of daylight. I was disappointed not to find any Snail Kites here, though I tried to put myself in the right place at the right (long) time ;) Still, it is always nice to begin or end a day on a wetlands, when lots of waders are flying to and fro from roost sites and you never know what surprises may pop up like a hapless SHARP-SHINNED HAWK trying to make his way over the northern Everglades while being dive-bombed by no fewer than four male BOAT-TAILED GRACKLES simultaneously!
Here s the list of birds I encountered today, some with notes/numbers:
Mallard, a few on pond at Kendall/Baptist Hospital area (K/BH)
Blue-winged Teal 7, Mrazek Pond, Everglades
Northern Shoveler 3f, same location
Brown Pelican, several at Everglades National Park (ENP)
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron 8, Micosukee area (MA)
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill 7, Paurotis Pond, Everglades
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey how cool is it to have 4 families going at once around Flamingo?
Swallow-tailed Kite 2, ENP; 1, MA
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1, MA
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk, just one, along Turnpike
American Kestrel 1, wires outside ENP
Clapper Rail 1, Shark Alley (actually got to SEE it cool!)
Purple Gallinule 2, Shark Alley
Common Moorhen 1, Mrazek Pond, ENP
American Coot, several, pond at K/BH
Limpkin 1, Shark Alley
Black-bellied Plover many, ENP
Semipalmated Plover, only able to pick out one, ENP
Killdeer 2, MA
Black-necked Stilt 17, Eco Pond, ENP
Greater Yellowlegs 2, Eco Pond; 1, Mrazek Pond, ENP
Willet, scads, ENP
Lesser Yellowlegs 3, Eco Pond; 5, Mrazek Pond, ENP
Marbled Godwit 13, ENP
Dunlin, scads, ENP
Short-billed Dowitcher 20+, ENP
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Caspian Tern, at least 3, ENP
Royal Tern, several, ENP
Black Skimmer, 100 s, ENP
Rock Pigeon
White-crowned Pigeon 3, ENP; 2, K/BH
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove 3, ENP
White-winged Parakeet 2, K/BH
Barred Owl 1, ENP
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1, K/BH
Northern Flicker
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird 2, Anhinga Trail, ENP
Loggerhead Shrike, 5, all in urban areas!
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo 1, ENP; 1, K/BH
Red-eyed Vireo 1, ENP
Black-whiskered Vireo 1, near Mrazek Pond, ENP
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow, several, K/BH
Purple Martin
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1, ENP; 2, MA
Bank Swallow 1, ENP
Barn Swallow
Carolina Wren 2, ENP
House Wren 1, ENP
Red-whiskered Bulbul 3, K/BH
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2, Shark Valley
Eastern Bluebird 2, ENP
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher 1, ENP
European Starling
Common Myna
Cedar Waxwing 16, ENP
Northern Parula 2m, 1f, ENP
Magnolia Warbler 1m, ENP
Pine Warbler 1 imm. female, ENP, pines near check station. Range maps indicate rare?
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler 2, ENP
American Redstart 1m, 1f, ENP
Northern Waterthrush 1, ENP
Waterthrush sp. 3, ENP
Common Yellowthroat
Savannah Sparrow 1, ENP
Lincoln s Sparrow 2, ENP
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak 1m, Eco Pond
Indigo Bunting, several heard zreeting, and seen at ENP
Painted Bunting 1m, 2f, ENP
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Shiny Cowbird 1m, again at Flamingo visitor s center
Spot-breasted Oriole 1, K/BH
Baltimore Oriole 1f, Mrazek Pond, ENP
House Sparrow
Ken Blankenship
Marietta, GA (Cobb County)
currently on I-595
http://www.wingsoverga.com
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