Miami Springs psittacids, 14 Nov 2004

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Posted by Bill Pranty on 21:18:56 11/14/04

After an unsuccessful trip for the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher but a successful trip for the Vermilion, James Tucker and I headed to Kendall Baptist Hospital, where we missed the bulbul. (It was that kind of day; the hourly showers didn't help matters...).

We spent about an hour wesr of the Miami Springs Nursing Home watching Mourning Doves before we finally succeeded in finding a mixed flock of _Aratinga_ parakeets (with a few Monks mixed in) at the southwest corner of Apache and Falcon. From 1400-1445, we watched 4 species of parakeets gorging themselves at the feeders: 15 Dusky-headeds, 14 Mitreds, 6 Monks, and 1 Peach-fronted. As if that wasn't enough of a treat, a Diamond Dove made a brief appearance at the feeders (and an even briefer appearance in my video), along with 3 White-winged Doves that were there most of the time, feeding on bird seed spilled by the parakeets.

For some reason, I have been unable to "pull" videograbs off my camcorder this past week. But when I solve the problem, I'll post some images of the Dusky-headed and Peach-fronted parakeets.

We then walked around the Nursing Home, where we got totally drenched. But we had a flock of about 20 big-looking and big-sounding psittacids fly by; are there Chestnut-fronted Macaws in the vicinity of the nursing home?

Afterward, we headed north, where we again got rained on while not seeing Purple Swamphens at Pembroke Pines. Has anybody seen numbers of swamphens at their usual (former?) spots recently? I'm guessing that the high water levels have forced them to move out of the ponds. Hard to believe that I counted 84 swamphens in the main SilverLakes lake on one day in October 1998!

It was nice to meet Steve Siegel and Alex Harper today, and to see Paul Bithorn up and about chasing birds again. And thanks to Paul for sending us to the corner of Apache and Falcon; I didn't know about that spot. (The Apache and Wren corner was birdless while we were there, but we counted a total of 15 dogs in 5 yards).

Best regards,

Bill Pranty
Avon Park, Florida

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Re: Miami Springs psittacids, 14 Nov 2004 - Alex Harper 20:14:36 11/15/04 (0)

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Comments:	: After an unsuccessful trip for the Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher but a successful trip for the Vermilion, James Tucker and I headed to Kendall Baptist Hospital, where we missed the bulbul. (It was that kind of day; the hourly showers didn't help matters...). : : We spent about an hour wesr of the Miami Springs Nursing Home watching Mourning Doves before we finally succeeded in finding a mixed flock of _Aratinga_ parakeets (with a few Monks mixed in) at the southwest corner of Apache and Falcon. From 1400-1445, we watched 4 species of parakeets gorging themselves at the feeders: 15 Dusky-headeds, 14 Mitreds, 6 Monks, and 1 Peach-fronted. As if that wasn't enough of a treat, a Diamond Dove made a brief appearance at the feeders (and an even briefer appearance in my video), along with 3 White-winged Doves that were there most of the time, feeding on bird seed spilled by the parakeets. : : For some reason, I have been unable to "pull" videograbs off my camcorder this past week. But when I solve the problem, I'll post some images of the Dusky-headed and Peach-fronted parakeets. : : We then walked around the Nursing Home, where we got totally drenched. But we had a flock of about 20 big-looking and big-sounding psittacids fly by; are there Chestnut-fronted Macaws in the vicinity of the nursing home? : : Afterward, we headed north, where we again got rained on while not seeing Purple Swamphens at Pembroke Pines. Has anybody seen numbers of swamphens at their usual (former?) spots recently? I'm guessing that the high water levels have forced them to move out of the ponds. Hard to believe that I counted 84 swamphens in the main SilverLakes lake on one day in October 1998! : : It was nice to meet Steve Siegel and Alex Harper today, and to see Paul Bithorn up and about chasing birds again. And thanks to Paul for sending us to the corner of Apache and Falcon; I didn't know about that spot. (The Apache and Wren corner was birdless while we were there, but we counted a total of 15 dogs in 5 yards). : : : Best regards, : : Bill Pranty : Avon Park, Florida
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