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Posted by John Boyd on 07:43:27 05/09/10
Nancy Freedman and I started our NAMC day at the Burger King in Florida City around 6:25am. As usual, we only saw a few birds (55) on the Dade portion of our count. The Monroe portion was average, with a total of 1545 individuals from 59 taxa (58 species).
The route heads down Card Sound Road to Key Largo, then through the keys to Summerland Key. We then return to Marathon to look for nighthawks at dusk. Finally, there is the long drive home from Marathon. This is the 8th successive spring I've done this area for the NAMC.
We dipped on the Yellow Warblers near Alabama Jacks. We did get our first of a record 60 White-crowned Pigeons. We did well on Ground Doves and Cardinals at several Key Largo sites, but warblers were hard to come by. Vireo numbers were about average. Although we found two cuckoos at Key Largo Hammocks Botanical Site, both were Yellow-billed, not Mangrove. An adult Bald Eagle soaring over Key Largo was a surprise as we headed down US 1.
Shorebird numbers at Sea Oats Beach on Lower Matecumbe were decent. We normally stop at Anne's Beach a couple of miles further down, but both parking lots were overflowing and we decided to bypass it this time.
After lunch at Porky's, we checked Ohio Key. As was the case last year, the lagoon was completely dry and there were no shorebirds. It appears that the former lagoon has been cut off from the water. It is sad that this now protected site has lost all value for shorebirds.
The Golden Orb Trail at Long Key State Park was fairly quiet, but we added some Prairies and Black-whiskered Vireos. We also saw some Six-lined Racerunners.
It was on to Big Pine, and the Blue Hole. Several Green Herons were nesting at the Blue Hole. We also found a immature Black-crowned Night-Heron. A Green Iguana was also present. A quick stop at the west end of Watson turned up a Reddish Egret, then we head for No Name. As usual Key Deer were present there (and also later on Long Beach Road).
We pushed on through the Torch Keys to Summerland Key, stopping at the small pond on Katherine. We were greeted by two more Iguanas. Common Moorhen was the only new bird for the day, but we stayed a while to watch the Pigeon show.
We worked our way back up the keys to Marathon. The Government Center had Least Terns, but we did not see any Roseates. It might be just a little too early. Three Burrowing Owls were out at the Marathon Golf Course, and a fourth across the street from the Key Colony Beach Golf Course. Two Brown-headed Cowbirds at the Marathon Golf Course were the first we've seen in 8 years of doing this route.
We got some pizza, then headed to the west end of the airport to look for nighthawks. We were pleased to hear the first one around 7:35pm, and quickly spotted it. After also checking by the terminal, we headed for home.
Warbler numbers were low, but not unprecedentedly so. Shorebird numbers remained depressed due to the loss of the Ohio Key site. Black Vulture and Bald Eagle had only been seen on 1 previous count.
31 Brown Pelican
387 Double-crested Cormorant
13 Magnificent Frigatebird
1 Great Blue Heron
6 Great White Heron
23 Great Egret
6 Snowy Egret
3 Little Blue Heron
4 Tricolored Heron
1 Reddish Egret
10 Cattle Egret
7 Green Heron
1 Black-crowned Night-Heron
31 White Ibis
1 Black Vulture
18 Turkey Vulture
6 Osprey
1 Bald Eagle
2 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Common Moorhen
4 Black-bellied Plover
5 Semipalmated Plover
6 Black-necked Stilt
28 Ruddy Turnstone
23 Sanderling
1 Semipalmated Sandpiper
2 Western Sandpiper
1 Least Sandpiper
30 Short-billed Dowitcher
111 Laughing Gull
67 Least Tern
11 Rock Pigeon
60 White-crowned Pigeon
91 Eurasian Collared-Dove
82 Mourning Dove
14 Common Ground-Dove
5 Monk Parakeet
2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
4 Burrowing Owl
1 Common Nighthawk
6 Antillean Nighthawk
26 Red-bellied Woodpecker
7 Great Crested Flycatcher
27 Gray Kingbird
14 White-eyed Vireo
16 Black-whiskered Vireo
2 Blue Jay
28 Northern Mockingbird
17 European Starling
2 Common Myna
5 Cape May Warbler
12 Prairie Warbler
1 Blackpoll Warbler
1 American Redstart
1 Common Yellowthroat
115 Northern Cardinal
29 Red-winged Blackbird
133 Common Grackle
2 Brown-headed Cowbird
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