Posted by Bill Boeringer on July 02, 2001 at 12:43:37:
On Sunday 7/1 Robin Diaz, Jill Rosenfield and myself birded Loop Rd to spot-check the breeding season.
Our first stop was to look for kites at the usual spot west of Shark Valley. No kites were seen, but we did see an immature Eastern Kingbird begging food from its parent, which would make forays over the sawgrass to snare insects. We also had several Least Bitterns.
We next stopped at a turnout after entering Big Cypress on SR41, where we had another small group of Eastern Kingbirds, Downy, Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and groups of both adult and immature Tufted Titmice and Gnatcatchers.
We entered Loop Rd at Monroe Station, and while still in Collier Co came across an adult and immature Eastern Bluebird in a cypress tree along the road. We also had a fly-by of a cuckoo (presumably Yellow-billed) and several Ground-Doves.
Entering Monroe Co, we stopped at Sweetwater Slough, where we were met by 1000s of mosquitos, presumably vacationing north from Snake Bight. We had great looks at a Barred Owl just before stopping, and were treated to a fine swimming performance by an otter in the slough itself. The amount of water was amazing–just a few weeks ago, on the Spring Count, John Boyd & I had hiked the area, which was bone dry. Now, there are no dry spots at all, and you’d require hip waders to go anywhere off road.
For the first time ever, I missed Prothonotary Warbler there–however, being restricted to to the road, we could not access one of the areas where they are traditionally found. In consolation, we spotted a pair of Northern Parulas, and eagle-eyed Robin discovered a Red-eyed Vireo foraging above the slough, within yards of where one was singing last year in late June.
During the rest of the trip, we saw numerous groups of adults and immatures of Gnatcatchers, Great Crested Flycatchers, Tufted Titmice, Cardinals, and White-eyed Vireo. We also saw 3 Yellow-billed Cuckoos, several more Eastern Kingbirds, and heard numerous Carolina Wrens, Common Yellowthroats, and several Limpkins. A Flicker brought our woodpecker list to 4. Once out of the cypress sloughs, insects were not a problem at all; even the hammock trail at the Interpretive Center was mostly bug-free (however, it was also almost bird-free- one Flicker and a handful of White-eyed Vireos).
It was a good day out, particularly at this time of year. The young birds we also saw confirmed small numbers of birds not normally thought of as South Florida breeders which push nesting this far south, including Eastern Kingbird and Eastern Bluebird, and larger numbers of Gnatcatchers and Titmice. The numbers of Yellow-billed Cuckoos imply breeding, as does the presence again this year of Red-eyed Vireo in early July.