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Posted by John Boyd on 09:39:27 01/08/12
About 10 birders joined me for the TAS Everglades trip. As usual, we made a large number of stops, birding at 14 different locations in and near the park. It is frequently the case, as happened today, that some locations will be very quiet. However, the diversity of habitats usually means that some will be active, as also happened today. I generally expect the winter group trips to total 85-105 species. Today was right in the middle of that range and I saw or heard 91 today, and missed a few seen by others.
The first stop was our meeting place, the parking lot at the Coe Visitor's Center. Some Myrtle Warblers zipped through the trees as we met. Other notable birds present included a couple of Pine Warblers heard singing, and calling Great Creasted Flycatcher and Flicker. We backtracked out of the park to the C-111 canal for the Vermilion Flycatchers. A Swainson's Hawk was perched along the way, but not seen by all. Both Vermilions were present at the C-111 and allowed good views by all. We also turned up some Grasshopper and Savannah Sparrows on the north side of road, and saw a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, a Northern Harrier, and some Sandhill Cranes as well as common birds such as Eastern Phoebe and Palm Warbler. We returned to the Aerojet/9336 intersection (stop #3) in search of the Swainson's. Again, some got looks at it. More of the same birds were seen, as well as Common Ground-Dove. We continued down Aerojet a short distance when a Western Kingbird and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher appeared on the wire. We returned to the intersection for one more try at the Swainson's. The Ash-throated was not evident.
Then we went into the park to Royal Palm (stop #4). We walked Anhinga Trail, adding both dark and light morph Short-tailed Hawks, Purple Gallinule, Carolina Wren (heard), Pileated Woodpecker, Orange-crowned Warbler (heard), and a typical assortment of waders. Then we walked Gumbo Limbo Trail to the intersection with Old Ingraham Highway, and short-cutted back to the visitor's center. On the way we added Black-and-white Warbler and Northern Parula.
The next stop was Gate #2 on Research Road. Sometimes this area is good for nuthatches, but not today. A couple of Pine Warblers were seen, but not much else. Then we headed down to the old missile base (stop #6) hoping to find a kite or something else interesting. Not today. We turned around and headed to our lunch spot at Long Pine Key. On the way, some of the group saw an Eastern Bluebird on the wire. We had lunch at the circle at Long Pine Key. The Tree Swallows were sometimes descending to the lake and putting on a show. The real highlight was the Flordia Leafwing butterfly that landed on Jim's hand. It's been several years since I've seen one.
After lunch, we visited a very quiet Mahogany Hammock (stop #8). There's usually a warbler flock or two here in the winter, but I haven't had any luck finding one this winter. After a loop through the hammock, we moved on to Paurotis Pond with its Roseate Spoonbills. Some warblers were present around the parking lot, including Yellow-throated Warbler and Northern Parula. A short stop at Nine-Mile Pond added my first Osprey of the day.
Stop #11 was West Lake. A large number of coots were in the lake, as well as small numbers of Pied-billed Grebes, Ruddy Duck (1), Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, and Blue-winged Teal. A few warbler were present along the trail including a male American Redstart seen by part of the group.
We saw more waterfowl, including both teal and Northern Shoveler at Mrazek Pond. Kingfishers chased each other over the pond. Several Roseate Spoonbills put on a show while we were there.
Normally, we would have stopped by the Visitor's Center at Flamingo. However, it was near high tide and a quick drive-by revealed nothing on the submerged sandbar. We instead drove toward the campground, took a left to the primitive camping area, and parked near the amphitheater. We found a number of Willets and a couple of Marbled Godwits on the shore near the amphitheater. A Black-bellied Plover and Spotted Sandpiper were further west near a lone Willet. Eventually, we added Ruddy Turnstone. Some searching also revealed both pelicans, fly-by Black Skimmers, and some larids. We then walked part of the Guy Bradley Trail. It turned out to be pretty quiet today, with a Palm Warbler and some Savannah Sparrows near the entrance providing the only excitement.
Our last stop of the day was at Eco Pond. There have been 2 Cape May warblers in the fig trees near the entrance for a while. They showed up on cue. We also saw White-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, and heard a Flicker. The tide was still too high for anything interesting to be on the sandbar, so we called it a day. I saw a White-crowned Pigeon fly over the road near Coot Bay Pond on my way back.
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