[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Steve Collins on 14:27:29 12/15/04
This weekend my wife had the idea of going to Miami for her birthday, and since she is such a wonderful and understanding person, she suggested that we go looking for parrots. I wasn't going to pass an opportunity like that up! We only had off Sunday and Monday, so things were going to be tight. In order to get to southeast florida by sunup, we had to leave Gainesville by 2:20am.
12/12/04
We arrived at the Fort Lauderdale airport at 7:15am, where we searched in vain in the cold for Smooth-billed Ani. After watching 5 Kestrels for an hour and a half, we finally gave up. David Scott arrived also looking for the Ani, but I don't think he had much luck either.
We then headed to Pembroke Pines looking for the Swamphen - Dip #2. We drove around the Silverlakes neighborhood for a while and found Monk Parakeets, BW Teal, Mottled Ducks, Coots, Moorhens, and a LIMPKIN, but no Swampmonsters. What's the deal with the floating fake geese and ducks all over the place?
Next on the agenda was Miami Springs. It was absolutely devoid of birds - I just wasn't having any luck today. The feeders at Apache & Falcon were empty except for suet. The other feeders in the neighborhood were also empty, except for a few feeders at Oriole & Lawn which were full of black oil. But no birds - big dip.
We then headed to the neighborhood across Kendall drive from the Baptist Hospital. I questioned if my goal was to find birds or make homeowners nervous. I was certainly succeeding at the latter. I saw a quick flyby Oriole, but a Baltimore or Spot-breasted? Drat. I also spotted a small Buteo overhead. Probable light Short-tailed, but I couldn't rule out a lightly streaked juv. Broad-winged. Drat. Dip.
The only exotics at Matheson Hammock were Monks. I did get great views of Band-winged Dragonlets, Scarlet Skimmers, Halloween Pennants, and Twilight Darners. Also 2 Green Iguanas in the mangroves, albeit not very green ones.
A trip back to Kendall was just what I needed. My wife found two beautiful RED-WHISKERED BULBULs singing in a palm at 9021 SW 85th St. What a beautiful bird.
A trip back to Miami Springs yielded the expected parrot flock at Apache & Falcon. Many MONK parakeets, several MITRED, a dozen DUSKY-HEADED, and a couple RED-FRONTED (or RED-MASKED - do Red-fronted occur in Miami?). Across the street two SPOT-BREASTED ORIOLES began to sing, and soon presented themselves. They have such an interesting song.
12/13/04
On Monday we decided to make a quick jaunt to Key West looking for the Spindalis. I suppose it was foolish to think a trip to Key West could be "quick," and I also suppose that if I hadn't dipped on the Spindalis, I wouldn't be calling myself foolish : ). At the Indigenous Park, I did find 2 BLACK-THROATED GREEN, 2 ORANGE CROWNED, 2 PARULAS, PRAIRIE WARBLER, and 3 RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRDS. I couldn't stay long because we had to be back in Gainesville that night. Big Dip.
So was a trip filled with dips worth it? Of course! If I had found all the birds I was looking for, I would be lieing.
Good birding!
-Steve Collins
Gainesville, FL
(Attached to this email are some of my parrot photos. Please let me know if the parrot in question is a Red-fronted or a Red-masked - thanks!)
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]