Posted by Susan Schneider on May 09, 2004 at 16:44:45:
My count day started at 5:30 AM with a disappointment: The local Spot-breasted Oriole, which normally sings then, failed to oblige. (I'm glad others got this species.) But the day quickly picked up from there. At 6:15 AM, having to stop for a red light gave me a chance to hear Common Nighthawk. A few minutes later I was birding the Taylor WMA access off N. Krome Av., just south of the intersection with Okeechobee Road. Waders were everywhere, including a Wood Stork, not present during my scouting trip the previous week. I was happily counting when what should fly in but a Snail Kite, only 20 yards away! It snatched and ate an apple snail right before my eyes, no scope needed. The bird perched on a tussock, giving close views for almost half an hour, and I saw it again twice later in the morning (presumably the same individual).
Notable among the waders here was the large number of Black-crowned Night Herons. I had dozens of sightings, but was cautious in my estimate of total numbers to avoid overcounting. (I had a similar problem with the ubiquitous Great Egrets and all the blackbirds and grackles.) I also saw a very strange flyby that might have been a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Puzzling over that for some time, I never did get comfortable enough to call it. And time was ticking away.
So was a King Rail!--similar to the Clapper I'm more familiar with, but at the distinctly slower rate described in Sibley, and the freshwater habitat was really enough in itself for me to call it. I'd been hoping for rails and least bitterns, and appreciated that one came through--the only one for the day, as it turned out. (Where are the least bitterns?)
Heading out on one of the gravel roads brought me to two weary, disheveled female Purple Martins preening on a wire for 10 minutes straight; maybe they had just flown in? I saw two dapper males in the evening at the southern end of this eastern portion of the WMA. A family of Moorhens was making a fuss in the dense marsh on the side, and I had fun estimating the number of babies. A short distance further I came across a Purple Gallinule that promptly hid itself--another bird that had eluded me on the scouting trip.
Common Yellowthroats were singing, and I did find one migrant warbler at this location--but the chip notes and white undertail coverts it offered were insufficient for an ID (for me, anyway). The bird disappeared, stubbornly refusing to respond to pishing or even a screech owl tape. Mottled Ducks and marsh rabbits provided consolation, and back at the parking area were two Least Terns.
Hiking the levee trails parallel to Krome brought additional highlights: Northern Flickers, Downy Woodpeckers, Common Ground-Doves, Red-shouldered Hawk, Tree Swallows (rather late, I gather), and Anhinga and Black Vulture hangouts. I was especially grateful for the flickers, since their unexpected appearance made it unnecessary for me to brave a difficult road to another flicker site I'd located on a scouting trip. The two at the WMA mated as I watched; may their tribe increase. I found another flicker later in the day--and all of these flickers were in melaleuca stands!--about the only birds to be found there.
Afternoon birding featured Doral "hotspots" (such as they are) and the FIU campus. Highlights were Monk Parakeets, Coots, Chimney Swifts, Gray Kingbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, and numerous Loggerhead Shrikes. FIU provided my only migrant warbler wave for the day, including three Blackpoll Warblers, two Redstarts, and one Northern Waterthrush. Then I struck out on the Mynas and Gulls at my local strip mall, one eyepiece of my binoculars fogged up on me for the rest of the day, and my stakeout Eastern Towhee was a no-show.
I picked up three, however, in the evening at the southeastern access to Taylor WMA, off Tamiami Trail just west of the Miccosukee Casino. Heading north along the levee, I startled a hunting Red Fox while listening to a Red-shouldered Hawk that I couldn't get a fix on. Waders became challenging against sunset backlighting (the state of my bins not helping), and a distant hawk in the opposite direction from the Red-shouldered could have been a Harrier or another Snail Kite--no call. A lone Forster's Tern, my last new species, was easier. My second Purple Gallinule emerged and foraged near a Little Blue Heron for a while. The Heron snaked its head from side to side, angling for what appeared to be minnows. Accompanied by the peaceful sounds of the frogs, night fell, and I was pleased when the same bird that opened my count closed it: A Common Nighthawk came out of nowhere, flying low across the marsh directly towards me. I ended the day with 56 species and 733 individuals.
Good birding,
Susan
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Anhinga 24
Great Blue Heron 11
Great Egret 52
Snowy Egret 3
Little Blue Heron 5
Tricolored Heron 6
Cattle Egret 32
Green Heron 21
Black-crowned Night Heron 16
White Ibis 44
Wood Stork 2
Muscovy 3
Mottled Duck 5
Mallard (feral) 2
Black Vulture 28
Turkey Vulture 3
Osprey 1
Snail Kite 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
King Rail 1
Purple Gallinule 2
Common Moorhen 12
American Coot 2
Killdeer 4
Forster's Tern 1
Least Tern 2
Rock Dove 10
Eurasian Collared-Dove 67
Mourning Dove 15
Common Ground-Dove 3
Monk Parakeet 8
Common Nighthawk 2
Chimney Swift 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Downy Woodpecker 5
Northern Flicker 3
Gray Kingbird 3
Purple Martin 4
Tree Swallow 2
Blue Jay 12
Fish Crow 7
Carolina Wren 5
Northern Mockingbird 22
Loggerhead Shrike 8
European Starling 28
Blackpoll Warbler 3
American Redstart 3
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Northern Cardinal 8
Eastern Towhee 3
Red-winged Blackbird 59
Eastern Meadowlark 3
Boat-tailed Grackle 136
Common Grackle 10