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Posted by Paul Bithorn on 12:43:11 12/06/09
Thirty-six birders assembled for the Tropical Audubon Society's annual "Exotics" fieldtrip on Saturday, December 5, 2008. We met at 1:00 p.m. in the emergency overflow parking lot of Baptist Hospital on Kendall Drive and were immediately greeted by a flock of Mitred Parakeets. Muscovy ducks, Rock Pigeons and House Sparrows were feeding on breadcrumbs nearby an adjacent pond. The weather was windy and overcast with the constant threat of rain from an impending cold front. The temperature reached the low 80 s and was quite balmy. We pressed on.
We proceeded to walk the neighborhood directly across the street from Baptist Hospital, See Brian Rapoza's; Birding Florida-pg. 104 and Pranty s ABA Birdfinding Guide; A Birder s Guide to Florida-pg. 228 for directions. We had the distinct pleasure of having Brian Rapoza and Bill Pranty join us on our urban adventure, along with ornithologist, Jon Greenlaw, who has written many books and scientific papers on birds, among them his contribution to THE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA LIFE HISTORIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY; BNA112 Sharp-tailed Sparrow; Jon S. Greenlaw and James D. Rising. 1994. 28 pp. and Rafael Antonio Galvez, who co-authored and did the color illustrations for Raptors and Owls of Georgia (Caucasus region). Our birders hailed from all over the great state of Florida, several states and foreign countries, including the Philippines.
A scouting trip preceding the walk with my good friends from Lakeland produced a light phase Short-tailed Hawk at Kenwood Elementary (Attorney Janet Reno s Alma Mater). The bird dipped low enough for full-frame photos and then proceeded to do the unthinkable - land nearby. I think a battery and memory card were spent photographing this species. We also located a pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls in the Baptist area right before the walk started and our group quickly located three Bulbuls. One of our birders stayed behind and said the flock grew to five birds. We walked around a few blocks and spotted a small flock of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets and Monk Parakeets along with Loggerhead Shrikes, Northern Mockingbirds, Eurasian Collared Doves, European Starlings. Along the walk, the hostess with the mostest, Daria Feinstein, joined us and we immediately headed back to our cars to head to her home near Matheson Hammock, where we were treated to two stunning Blue and Yellow Macaws at close range. While performing traffic duty out front, a light phase Short-tailed Hawk few low right in front of me and disappeared into the red mangroves.
I think it s important to know that we had a caravan of about ten cars, which could have proven to be a logistical nightmare while traversing the mean streets of Miami-Dade County. Our group did a bang-up job of staying together and following directions. For that I am very grateful.
Our caravan then headed north up LeJeune Rd. to Miami Springs and the Fair Havens Nursing Home (Rapoza pg. 99; Pranty pp. 221 and 223), where two Yellow-chevroned Parakeets and a Cooper s Hawk were perched in the Australian Pines, while White-winged Doves perched on power-lines nearby. The Magical Mystery Tour, was about to begin full swing, when within a short walking distance a Red-crowned and Yellow-crowned Parrot were spotted perched nearby. This led us to five Orange-winged Parrots perched in an Australian Pine in the median on Morningside Drive. A nice flock of Aratinga parakeets screeched overhead and our target species, a pair of Scarlet (Red)-fronted Parakeets (Aratinga wagleri) and Crimson-fronted Parakeets (Aratinga finschi) perched right next to each other for close study, allowing us to note the differences in size, the extent of red on the crown (forehead) along with the color on the bend of the wing none on wagleri and red and yellow on finschi.
A mixed flock of Aratingas, including a Red-masked Parakeet again screeched overhead undoubtedly caused by the presence of nearby Cooper s and a Sharp-shinned Hawks.
Our next stop was the neighborhood around the intersection of Apache and Wren near Prince Field and the Miami Springs pool on Westward Drive, but our alley run by several feeders came up empty. A Broad-winged Hawk was seen perched on the way there.
We headed to 51 Truxton Dr., between Hunting Lodge Dr. and Hammond Dr. where we arrived around 4:30 p.m., a half-hour or so too early for the flock of Aratingas to arrive. I made an executive decision to finish the trip early to allow birders to find their way home or back to Baptist Hospital during daylight hours.
While no Spot-breasted Orioles, Hill Mynas, White-eyed or Green Parakeets were found I found the birding with old and new friend to be quite fructifying. Interestingly enough, a pair of Spot-breasted Orioles fed on the fruit of a Pygmy Date Palm in my backyard as I was writing this report. Our exotics total finished up at 16, including 10 psittacids. Life is good........ urban birding in South Florida with good people. Yes.....a few Yuenglings were hoisted over smoked Wahoo spread and blackened dolphin at Woody s in Miami Springs as our celebratory libation, but the coup de grace was a tasty Arrogant Bastard Ale thanks, Anne a 7.2 Alc. Vol. pint of natural ingredients. This is an aggressive beer. You probably wouldn t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. I suggest you stick with your tasteless fizzy yellow beers. Warning: This ale can make you arrogant!
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