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Posted by John Boyd on 17:35:22 02/11/12
Twenty or so birders joined me for today's TAS South Dade Birding. We spent a bit of time around the Coe Visitor's Center to start the trip. The highlight was an Indigo Bunting, seen by some. We also ended up with 5 warbler species: Parula, Palm, Prairie, Myrtle, and Pine (heard).
The plan was to continue to Lucky Hammock, but before reaching the turn at Aerojet Road, I spotted a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on the wires. Of course we had to stop! While looking at some of the other birds present, we found a distant, perched Swainson's Hawk. Then it was on to Lucky Hammock.
Highlights of our stay there included male and female Painted Buntings, a Yellow-breasted Chat, and a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Most of the group missed the chat the first time, but we let it rest for a while after the grosbeak distracted us. Later, we again found it, and most of the group managed to see it. Common Yellowthroat rounded out our warbler list. A young Myiarchus flycatcher puzzled us for a while. Great Creasted or Brown-creasted? It never did call, fieldmarks were less than clear-cut, and several of us felt it was best left unidentified. Other Great Cresteds were present.
We went further down Aerojet to the Annex. Some of us noticed a light-morph Short-tailed Hawk overhead as we got out of the cars. Fortunately, it ended up making several passes. Some female cowbirds turned out to be the expected Brown-headed. When I turned around, I noticed another Indigo Bunting, giving some a chance to catch up. Other buntings were heard calling there. Walking down the road was a bit frustrating as most of the warblers we saw were in flight. A flock of about 25 Cedar Waxwings provided some excitement, as did a dark-morph Short-tailed Hawk. Before we left, we watched about a thousand Tree Swallows swirling about overhead.
We drove back to the highway, hoping to find the Ash-throated Flycatcher. We had no luck with it, but a Swainson's Hawk flew right over us, and we found one of the two Vermilion Flycatchers closer to Aerojet than to the canal. We continued on to the canal, where we found the other Vermilion around the water control structure. Several Eastern Meadowlarks sang while we were there.
We drove up 217th Ave. to the airport, where a couple of Burrowing Owls (and lots of meadowlarks) were present near the entrance. Then it was on to Castellow Hammock. We briefly heard the Rufous/Allen's Hummingbird, but it was uncooperative. The White-winged Doves, Purple Martins, and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were more forthcoming. After lunch, we spent more time looking for the Rufous/Allen's. I think most everyone got at least a brief look. I didn't see any sign of warblers there (unusual for this trip), and we called it a day after seeing the hummer.
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