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Posted by Anil on 10:43:54 01/24/11
In an attempt to have it all on Saturday, Alison and I birded parts of ENP, and then went to Lucky Hammock and A.D. Barnes. We started out at 7:30 on the Anhinga Trail in hopes of seeing the Smooth-billed Ani. Although there were many birds active, the Ani was nowhere to be seen. At 8:00 we heard it calling from beyond the northern-most point of the boardwalk, but never located it. There was, however, a Limpkin feeding in the area around the end of the pavement.
We then headed to the Eco Pond, and then to the Coastal Prairie Trail. There was nothing of note at the Eco Pond, although we enjoyed seeing the adult Roseate Spoonbills. We passed some birders at Flamingo who said that they were looking for a Western Kingbird, but we never saw anything close to that. Another birder told us that he saw a Lesser Nighthawk the previous night while camping near the Eco Pond. We then birded the Coastal Prairie Trail for about a mile. It was a muddy slog, so were were thankful to have our rubber boots. From the camping area, we had good looks at a perched White-crowned Pigeon, and also flushed a Snipe in short grass. On the way out we had excellent looks at a Grasshopper Sparrow, but didn't see much else other than Savannah Sparrows (no Seaside). From the mud flats, we watched Willets and Marbled Godwits, along with the usual host of Egretta species and several Forster's Terns.
We lunched at Flamingo where we scanned the mudflats. Again, there wasn't much activity -- Willets were the only shorebird around. However, we found an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, and also saw one Caspian Tern, several Royal Terns, and a group of Skimmers.
We stopped by the Anhinga Trail on the way out to Lucky Hammock, but weren't able to locate or hear the Ani. At Lucky Hammock (3:00 ish), we searched for the Brown-crested Flycatcher. We stayed there for about 30 minutes, but the wind really picked up during that time, forcing us to cut short our stay. We saw 3 Great-Crested Flycatchers, but not the Brown-crested. We also played the Brown-crested call, but didn't get a response. One interesting note is that while we were searching for the Brown-crested, there was a 5-minute period where roughly 75-100 Palm Warblers "fell out" of the adjacent fields into the Hammock.
On the way back to Miami Beach, we stopped by A.D. Barnes hoping to locate the Bell's Vireo. When we arrived at 4:30, it was fairly windy and very overcast. We had no luck locating the bird. (Has anyone seen it since Jan. 15?)
All in all a tough-ish birding day (71 species), mitigated by our good looks at the Grasshopper Sparrow and Lesser Black-backed Gull.
Happy birding,
Anil
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