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Posted by Paul Bithorn on 07:39:04 04/18/10
While on a quest to pick up some yearbirds, I decided to kick up the pace a notch and submit my species count to the Eighth Annual Tropical Audubon Society Birdathon.
I started at 7:00 a.m. at Cutler Wetlands where the pickins' were slim. Shot down to North Key Largo picking up a Cuban Yellow
Warbler and Black-whiskered Vireo. While birding the Dagney Johnson North Key Largo Botanical Site I ran into good friend Thor Manson from British Columbia, who invited me over to his place on Key Largo for a couple of cool ones. I then headed over to the Shipwreck in Garden Cove for a Blackened Dolphin Sandwich and Sweet Potato Fries, washed down by a couple of Union Made long neck Pabst Blue Ribbons. I decided to give the Mangrove Cuckoo one more try on Loquat and sure enough one began calling softly and was easily located.I headed back north,first stopping at Alabama Jacks to see my good friend Billy Ahern's band play a few tunes. Unfortunately,Billy had a stand-in,the steel guitar players son at drums, but the music, setting and eclectic group of patrons including bikers, Parrot Heads, turistas and a few street urchins, made for a nice stop.
Picked up a few species after entering Everglades National Park, while birding Anhinga Trail and Research Road and ended the day back in my own stomping grounds, Miami Springs, picking up all of the psittacids, Chimney Swifts and a pair of Spot-breasted Orioles. The species seen were as follows:
Blue-winged Teal
Muscovy
White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Magnificent Frigatebird
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
White Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk(25)
American Kestrel
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Killdeer
Black-necked Stilt
Spotted Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Least Tern
Rock Dove
White-crowned Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Mangrove Cuckoo
Monk Parakeet
Green Parakeet
Mitred Parakeet
Red-fronted Parakeet
Crimson-fronted Parakeet
White-eyed Parakeet
Orange-winged Parrot
Common Nighthawk(50)
Chimney Swift
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Great Crested Flycatcher
Gray Kingbird
Loggerhead Shrike
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Black-Whiskered Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Barn Swallow
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Eastern Bluebird
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Common Myna
Yellow Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler(75)
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Black-throated Blue Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Grasshopper Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Painted Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Spot-breasted Oriole
House Sparrow (90)
While 90 species was nothing to write home about, the day was a memorable one and reminded me why I love South Florida so much!
Life is good.....................
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