Posted by David LaPuma on September 16, 2003 at 12:16:58:
The first annual Underground Holistic Birding Movement TAS Keys and Dry Tortugas Trip was a success, with a group of roughly eighteen birders collectively seeing close to 100 species of birds. The weekend started out early Saturday morning with the first bird of the trip being Common Myna in Florida City. A sprinkling of rain at the Card Sound Road Bridge sent some back to their cars, but Yellow Warbler (Golden Cuban race) made a quick appearance for those who braved it out. Here we picked up our first Northern Waterthrush and Prairie Warblers, along with a great view of two West Indian Manatees. Next stop was the Wild Bird rehabilitation center in Tavernier where we all got a chance to study up on our wading birds. A single Roseate Spoonbill graced us with its presence in the salt pond, along with scores of white-morph Great Blue Herons. Sandy Beck, a trip member and bird rehabilitator from Talahassee, traded bird statistics with the center’s owner. Moving on down the road to Curry Hammock State Park we hit paydirt at some fruiting ficus’s behind Ranger Dave’s house. A beautiful male Baltimore oriole and a quick glimpse of a female Orchard made us all “ooh and ahh”, as did our first trip encounter with several Black-whiskered Vireos! No raptors were seen from the Hawk Watch platform on Saturday, but that would change by Monday…more on that later. After scouring the shoreline at Curry, and pishing and warblering our hearts out, we decided that some refueling was in order, and so we headed up to The Wreck and Galley Pub on Grassy Key. With the ocean releived of a few grouper, and the keg of Key West Sunset Ale releived of a few pitchers, we made our way further south in our quest towards Key West. We stopped briefly at the Marathon Airport where we picked up a few nice shorebirds including Pectoral, Least, Semipalmated and Solitary Sandpipers, and then over to Sombrero Beach golfcourse where we not only picked up a few warblers, but had one of our party picked up and driven away (literally) by a drunken golfer…only on this trip would something like that happen. Great looks at Yellow Warbler were had in the Seagrapes along the golf course, but not even persistance could get the Burrowing Owls to show themselves in the afternoon heat. So without the owls, we left for Ohio Key. At Ohio we were treated to a handfull of Piping Plovers, as well as the gorgeous resident white-morph Reddish Egret. Here we also found our only trip Greater Yellowlegs. In an attempt to find Mangrove Cuckoo, we headed down to Sugarloaf Key. Unfortunately most of the MACU’s are either silent or gone by this time of year, so the highlights of Sugarloaf were White-crowned Pigeons, and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron eating a rodent. At this point of the trip it was getting late in the day, so many of the participants opted to head straight to Key West and regroup in the morning. Several of us continued onto Boca Chica and were rewarded with great looks at all three peeps, dozens of Short-billed Dowitchers, Bank Swallows, and two stunning Roseate Spoonbills in golden hue of a spectacular sunset. Celebratorty libations included Left-Hand Imperial Stout and a fine Trappist brewed Chimay Ale. Unfortunately, all of us put our binoculars down for a toast, only to have a pair of ducks fly over and out of view before anyone could get a positive ID. I almost poked my eye out when I instinctively lifted my beer towards my face as if it were my binoculars.
On Sunday morning our group met at the dock for the Sunny Days Catamaran. Mark Hedden and Brennan Mulroony augmented our group with great eyes and local knowledge. The boat ride out produced a single Brown Booby and a likey Brown Noddy, but it was once we reached the fort that the birding really started to pick up. Upon arrival we were graced with looks at the Masked Booby colony on Hospital Key. Bush Key reamins closed to foot traffic since several terns were still frequenting the island, but that didn’t stop us from getting great scope views of the displaying Magnificent Frigatebirds. Several Frigates were also seen flying above the fort with their red throat pouches fully inflated. Brown Boobys perched on the distant markers and several Sooty Terns and Brown Noddys were seen travelling over the cerulean ocean. Inside the fort small groups of warblers made there way from tree to tree. An FOS Palm Warbler was a surprise, and stunning Prothonotary and Yellow Warblers added great color to the flocks. A Swainson’s Thrush gave us great views as did both Baltimore and Orchard Orioles. In the Campground area the group was treated to a sizeable feeding flock of warblers including a Blackburnian, and on the backside of the fort a stunning male Hooded hopped around the brickpile. On the helipad a Whimbrel was mixed in with some Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers and gave some good poses for the dogiscopers. In our last attempt to add a few species, we headed to the top of the fort and pointed the scopes towards bush key. Brennan picked out a perched Peregrine, a Cliff Swallow buzzed us several times at close range, and a Chuck-will’s Widow gave us excellent views at all angles as it swooped over and uder us above the mote and picnic area. Just before boarding the boat for our return, several of us made a break for the beach to get in our celebratory swim (we had no beer on this leg of the trip, so swimming seemed like the most logical alternative). Knowing that we might miss a bird or two, but confident that we had exhausted most of the fort, we took our dip. Returning to the boat Brennan greeted us with the news that he’d found and Eastern Peewee…the price we paid for deserting him for the beconing ocean. A fun ride back to Key West was interspersed with fleeting glimpses of Sea Turtles, Dolphins, and one lone floating toilet (a first for the boat Captain). Upon reaching the mainland, somehow we gathered enough energy to visit the Harris School and Fort Zachary Taylor in attempts to pick up a few new species. The Harris School was quiet, but the fort held a good number of Chucks, Prairies, and Gnatchtchers, along with our trip Worm-eating Warbler. The lack of Antillean Nighthawk was redeemed with a visit to the Monroe School Book Depository to view 1500 Cuban House Bats take off into the night!
Monday, day three, was spent combing each leaf and twig at Key West’s Indigenous Park. Although bird numbers were nowhere near historical records, the quality of species was something not easily repeated. Chuck-will’s Widows flushed and cruised through the understory as White-crowned Pigeons fluttered above us in search of fruiting trees. Prairies, Parulas and Gnatcatchers dominated the warbler spectrum, but a Blackburnian made a special appearance on the east side of the pond. Prothonotary was present, and Ovenbird and Northern Waterthrush skulked and chinked in the understory. An unidentified Vermivora species dashed across our view, not to be relocated. And Stefan locked onto a Kentucky Warbler that sent Raul into minor seizures of excitement. Later, throughout the day, the Kentucky must have forgotten its usual habits, because it hopped out onto the trail in front of several awestruck birders and proceeded to feed at our feet. Later its antics bordered on obscene as it bathed and preened only several feet away from us. But the real excitement came when Brennan called through the vegetation, saying “David. I think I have a Mourning Warbler”. Quickly I rounded up the group and filed them through the brush near where Brennan was fixed on a bush. He had seen the bird hop into the tangle of vines and brush, but lost in in the darkness. Raul caught a glimpse of a warbler dart to a bush in front of me, but after twenty or so minutes of looking many of us gave up and went on to look for more birds. Leaving Indigenous Park, we headed over to Higgs Beach and found a nice group of shorebirds including Western Sandpiper and Piping Plover. A visit to the botanical garden at Higgs Beach didn’t produce any birds, but satisfied our floral interests with beautiful displays of both native and exotic plant species. Rounding out the Indigenous Park circuit, we traversed Higgs Park but turned up little more than a few White Ibis and a Green Heron. This marked the end of the trip for most of the birders and we sadly parted ways at the Indigenous Park parking lot.
Only a small group of seven birders remaining, we headed back into the park for one more shot at the Mourning Warbler. In the heat of the approaching afternoon, we opted for a more passive birding approach. Several of us took seats under the shade of a ficus tree or nearby bush, and waited patiently for whatever might cross our path. At my post, several overnbirds walked within inches of me as I watched them raise and lower their head feathers, and “booty rock” their way through the understory. Another “booty rocker”, this one a Northern Waterthrush, chinked repeatedly as it fed along the edge of a flooded depression. Sitting still in the leaflitter, it was only a matter of minutes before the tree above me was full of warblers including one gorgeous Prothonotary. Then, out of a distant bush came a flash of yellow. It perched on a low branch and “chup!”, it let out the call note indicative of a Kentucky. The little teardropped warbler fed along the same wet area the Waterthrush had just been, and then hopped belly-first into the watering hole. He splashed and tossed sending a flurry of water droplets in all directions around him, then hopped to a higher branch and preened himself back into some sense of order. At this point most of the group had made their way to the area and watched the little “chupster” as he hopped around the leaflitter picking insects from the crevices. After about an hour of passive observation, and the addition of Veery to the trip list, Brennan called out that he may have seen the bird. I called back something obscene in a gut reaction. I soon regretted doing so, since when I reached his location, all eyes were fixed on the same bush that Raul had seen the mystery bird duck into earlier in the day. This time there was movement deep in the tangle, and field marks began to appear. A broken eyering. Yellow underside. Did you get a look at the tail? No, not yet. Brennan called it. “It’s the bird”. Then it happened, the fleeting glimpse of a face, then a throat, then little black flecks on the upper breast. MOURNING WARBLER! Although it couldn’t have lasted for more than a couple of seconds, the bird hopped out of the bush and onto some nearby branches giving us all quick-but-good looks. Then, as fast as it had come out, it ducked into the nearby understory, and we all looked at each other and grinned uncontrollably. This would definitely be the “best bird of the trip”.
Wandering out into the parking lot, each of us glowing with the mental images from the past three days, we said our “thank you”s, “see you again soon”s, and “goodbye”s. Raul and I made plans to meet Linda Mccandless at The Wreck for lunch. Mark headed home to meet a newspaper deadline, and Brennan planned to bird Boca Chica in search of a Black Tern. The drive north to Grassy Key was a quiet one, with both Raul’s and my stomache attempting to eat themselves. Upon arrival we quickly ordered the “regular” and kicked back on the deck with celebratory Sunset Ale. Rejuvinated from the lunch, we decided to check out the hawkwatch and see what was showing up for their inaugural count. At the hawkwatch were Casey Lott and his two new observers, Frank and Paula. I commented that we had been hoping to see Mississippi Kite and Casey retorted that they had seen five already that day. “Bummer!” I said, thinking we should have stopped at the watch before lunch instead, but just as I did, Paul pointed his binocs to the sky and said “Missippi, straight up”. We all got on it and watched as it soared on the top of a thermal, and then cruised south, wings bent in a tight sickle formation. As the afternoon was waning, we felt the need to head north, and exchanged both phone numbers and salutations with the new members of the Keys Hawkwatch. There would be much more communal birdwatching between the Curry Hammock team, TAS, and the UHBM, that’s for sure. Raul and I took a quick run to Boot Key and briefly relocated one of the Mississippi Kites. Raptors were few, but we did manage to find a perched Merlin that gave us great views. One more stop at the Boot Key bridge produced a Northern Waterthrush and a Yellow Warbler hopping inches from my feet…it doesn’t get much better than this.
On the ride home, Raul and I reminisced about the weekend. What we enjoyed, what could be improved upon next year, what birds totally floored us, what a great group of people turned out, and overall how totally awesome the trip was. Birding in the Keys during migration has so much to offer, both expected and unexpected. Coupled with great friends who we see every year, and those who we meet for the first time, it’s no wonder we can’t wait for the next trip to arrive. Thanks to everyone who came out on the trip, to Dave for letting us occupy his backyard, to Mark and Nancy for opening up their house and showing us where the closest bar was, Brennan and Mark for providing expert local knowledge and humor, and Linda for the pitcher of Sunset Ale.
In the exact words of Paul Bithorn on Monday afternoon: Life Is Good…even if that *&^*%ing Grassquit won’t show it’s face around me and I miss the *%*$&#ing Mourning Warbler too!
Species Seen
Masked Booby
Brown Booby
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Magnificent Frigatebird
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Mississippi Kite
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Black-bellied Plover
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Greater Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Sooty Tern
Brown Noddy
Rock Pigeon
White-crowned Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Chuck-will's-widow
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eastern Kingbird
Gray Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-whiskered Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Mourning Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Northern Cardinal
House Sparrow