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Posted by Bryant Roberts on 22:21:33 10/26/04
I visited Everglades National Park on Sunday and Monday with a detour on Saturday to
Boot Key to try for the Thick-billed Vireo and stops north of the park and on the way to
Flamingo on Monday. Some of the more interesting birds seen included Lark Sparrow,
Black-whiskered Vireo, dark and light morph Short-tailed Hawks, Vermilion Flycatcher,
Great Horned Owl, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrows, Blue Grosbeaks,
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Snail Kite, and a rather late Least Tern.
Except for a Peregrine over the Long Key Bridge my early morning drive down to the
keys was uneventful. Upon my arrival Sunday morning (10/24) at the Thick-billed Vireo
site on Boot Key there were already four birders standing watch near pole sixteen which
seemed to be enough so I decided to check the roadside back towards the bridge where
the vireo had first been seen. It didn’t take long to spot a Lark Sparrow among a small
flock of Indigo Buntings and call the others over to see it ("another birder" once again identifide). The Thick-billed Vireo was
never seen but there were a few warblers, an immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron and
an immature White-crowned Pigeon along the roadside. A Dark Morph Short-tailed
Hawk, a Merlin and a few Broad-winged Hawks passed over the area but these seemed to
be moving randomly rather than migrating that morning. On my way back north my first
stop was at Long Key State Park to walk the Nature Trail, highlights of this stop were
two Merlins perched on a snag near the southeast corner of the trail and a nice little
assortment of warblers, but nothing unusual. A check along the beach towards the
campground produced a Reddish Egret and a Roseate Spoonbill. At the D. J. Key Largo
Hammock Botanical State Park a hike along the trail turned up my first Black-whiskered
Vireo in several weeks and a few warblers along with another Dark Morph Short-tailed
Hawk soaring overhead. On my way from Florida City to Everglades National Park I
stopped at C-111 bridge on SR 9336 where the returning adult male Vermilion Flycatcher
was hunting from the fence near the water control structure and the large fig tree across
the canal. I set up camp at Long Pine Key Campground late in the afternoon where a
Great Horned Owl worked the tree line to the south of my camp a little after sunset
On Monday morning (10/25) I went to Lucky Hammock, not much of interest was in the
hammock itself besides a Magnolia Warbler, a few Painted Buntings, and a silent
Empidonax, but things were a bit more interesting along the back side of the brushy area
across the road. A walk north along the east edge produced a Lincoln’s Sparrow, two
Grasshopper Sparrows, a Savannah Sparrow, and two Blue Grosbeaks. A total of eleven
Painted Buntings and eight Indigo Buntings were seen on both sides of the road. A stop
at the “annex” to the south turned up a Least Flycatcher along the canal bank.
A Light Morph Short-tailed Hawk was soaring over the parking lot when I arrived at
Royal Palm Hammock. There wasn’t much songbird activity around the parking lot or the
trails but along the Ingraham Highway Trail I found a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a
Black-throated Green Warbler. Songbird activity was also slow at Mahogany Hammock
but there was a Snail Kite flying with a snail on the north side of the spur road. A nice
little warbler flock was near the end of the Mangrove Trail at West Lake that had a
Worm-eating Warbler and another Magnolia Warbler along with the usual early winter
mix. There wasn’t much along the first few hundred yards of Snake Bight Road besides a
Northern Waterthrush, a few White-crowned Pigeons, and way to many mosquitoes for
comfort. At Eco Pond a rather late Least Tern circled the pond a few times and made a
couple of dives. At the time I assumed from it’s dark bill that it was an immature bird but I
learned later that by now adults should also have dark bills. I am certain that this was a
Least Tern because of it’s small size, short tail, dark forward part of the primary area of
it’s wings along with it’s rapid wingbeats, especially when hovering, as well as it’s hunting
style.
Water levels were high all over the park and except for a concentration of waders
southwest of the Buttonwood Canal Bridge waders were pretty well dispersed.
Mosquitoes were bad around Lucky Hammock and the Long Pine Key area and very bad
around Flamingo. I checked to first part of the Coastal Prairie Trail to see if it was still
clear after the summer, it was but the sparrow fields north of the trail were flooded. I
didn’t check but I would assume that the Christian Point Trail is also flooded. There were
a few large branches down along the north end of Snake Bight Road but nothing to bad, I
didn’t have time to walk the whole road. Bear Lake Road is closed to motor vehicles and
probably will be until at least some time in December.
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