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Posted by Paul Bithorn on 16:41:03 12/06/10
Thirty-six birders assembled for the Tropical Audubon Society's annual "Exotics" fieldtrip on Saturday, December 4, 2010. We met at 6:30 a.m. in the north parking lot of Matheson Hammock County Park and while waiting to depart at 6:45 for the Macawfest at Daria Feinsteins, we saw a flock of 7 Blue and Yellow Macaws flying on a vector directly towards her home. We also had a flyover of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with high blue skies, temperatures in the high 50 s climbing to the mid-70 s and humidity in the 60 per cent range.
We arrived at Daria s home at 7:00 a.m. and were greeted by she and her husband, who welcomed us into their home with news that two Blue and Yellow Macaws had just arrived and we immediately took our places to witness these beautiful birds at close range. Our Hostess with the Mostess and her husband were gracious enough to provide us with a breakfast feast of muffins, guava pastries, fresh fruit, orange juice and freshly brewed coffee. I can t thank her and her husband enough for their southern hospitality. A flock of White Ibis and Ring-billed Gulls adorned her backyard and a flock of Orange-winged Parrots flew over us as we began the trek back to Matheson.
Matheson Hammock, a beautiful county park built by workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression era, would provide us with a nice variety of herons, raptors, passerines and exotic species during our tour of this West Indian hardwood hammock. Raptors included both morphs of Short-tailed Hawk, Red-Shouldered Hawk, a Krider s Red-tailed Hawk, a male Northern Harrier, and American Kestrel. Eastern Phoebe, Northern Flicker, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Summer Tanager, Yellow-throated and Blue-headed Vireos, along with Black and White, Northern Parula, Palm, Prairie, American Redstart and Yellow-throated Warblers kept us busy. Rock Pigeons, Eurasian Collared Doves and European Starlings were introduced species seen at the park and three species of psittacids including three Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, which landed in nearby Seaside Mahoe, a flock of fifteen Red-masked Parakeets that flew directly over us, clearly showing the red on the leading edge of the wings, and a flock of three Hill Mynas that were seen flying into the hammock.
Our next stop was an early lunch at Havana Spice Café on US 1, where we were greeted by House Sparrows in the parking lot along with the owner. The Café specializes in authentic Cuban Cuisine at a reasonable price and provides first class service. I have taken many birding groups there and have never been disappointed. Muy sabrosa!
We proceeded to the Emergency overflow parking lot at Baptist Hospital where a flock of Mitred Parakeets chattered in a nearby ficus tree and Chinese Geese, an Egyptian Goose and Muscovy ducks were feeding on breadcrumbs by an adjacent pond.
We then crossed Kendall Drive the busiest street in the Great State of Florida to 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. Loggerhead Shrikes, Monk Parakeets, and an immature Buteo that we struggled to identify until it flew, showing translucent windows at the base of the primaries towards the tips of the wings, diagnostic for Red-shoulderd Hawk. Someone remarked that good friend, Jeff Bouton, from Leica Sport Optics, an expert on hawk identification and digiscoping, could have given us a primer on the differences between immature Red-shouldered and Broad-winged Hawk juveniles as he recently did with the adults of the two species on the BIRDBRAINS website. This hawk lingered in the neighborhood during our walk and may have been the reason that the much desired bulbul and oriole were non-existent.
I catapulted the group to nearby Kenwood Elementary (Attorney Janet Reno s Alma Mater) in the hopes of locating Red-whiskered Bulbuls. Even a tape of the bird and a Sherpan Shaman could not drum up this species in one of its usual haunts.
Our caravan then headed north to Miami Springs and the Fair Havens Nursing Home (Rapoza pg. 99; Pranty pp. 221 and 223), where parrots and parakeets were in short supply, but a Broad-winged Hawk was seen flying overhead . A quick drive around the neighborhood around the intersection of Apache and Wren near Prince Field and the Miami Springs pool on Westward Drive, produced a couple of Monk Parakeets but little else.
Regrettably, I had to leave the group at 4:00 p.m. to prepare for Plumbers Local Union 519 s 100th Anniversary, but encouraged the group to stay in the area as the birds begin to appear at 5:00 p.m.
On my way to the black tie affair, donned in evening gown and tuxedo, my wife Pam and I stopped at 50 Truxton Drive to see if any birders were there. No birders were present, but a mixed flock of about twenty-five Aratingas, including Red-fronted, Crimson-fronted, White-eyed and Mitred Parakeets, adorned the electrical wires and Royal Palms like Christmas ornaments and a quick stop at the Nursing Home produced at least ten Orange-winged Parrots screeching along Morningside Dr. and at a residence at 101 South Dr. The only birder I found from our group was JAYTEE, a parrot enthusiast from West Palm Beach, who has an interesting blog at jayteesquakerparrots.blogspot.com.
Alas, no Spot-breasted Orioles or Red-whiskered Bulbuls were found, but I sensed that everybody enjoyed the mixed bag of birding, Cuban food and a hostess extraordinaire. Our exotics total finished up at seventeen, including nine psittacids. Total species seen was fifty-two.
Life is good........ urban birding in South Florida with people from several states and Canada and from all walks of life. Thank you for following directions to all of our stops and returning safe and sound. Yes, just in case you were wonderin ............ a Sea Bass Pugilistic Dark - Bodied Farmhouse Style Ale from Cigar City Brewing LLC in Tampa, Florida thanks, John and Rick - was hoisted as my celebratory libation. Really a well balanced beer with a large complement of different tastes that develop nicely.
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