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Posted by Abby on 14:17:50 02/07/05
For the first time in at least six weeks I spent the entire weekend within the Miami/Ft Lauderdale city limits. I began Sunday with a few Common Mynas in front of the Panera in Aventura. From there I went to the Ft Lauderdale airport on my second attempt at the Smooth-billed Anis (my first attempt was right after seeing the Bananaquit a few weeks back). I wandered around the greenbelt park on Griffin road, drove the perimeter road, with no luck. It was somehow both hot and windy so not a lot was active except a Northern Parula and an Overbird. I decided to try back later, and went down to Greynolds and East Greynolds parks. Greynolds had a Black-throated Blue Warbler, and East Greynolds had a nice flock of warblers including many parulas, two Black-and-white Warblers, and an Orange-crowned Warbler among the ubiquitous Yellow-rumps and Palms. There was also a singing cardinal that through me for a loop, it was giving a slow trill that I've never heard before... it's interesting to note the differences in songs and calls between the birds down here and those I'm used to in Ohio. From there it was back to the airport. I hadn't been there long when a black, long-tailed shape flew out of the brush along the perimeter road and perched on the fence. Steeling myself for a boat-tailed grackle as I lifted my binoculars, I was not disappointed... it was a Smooth-billed Ani! It sat there for a few minutes and called, then it flew up into a tree overhead and posed breifly in great lighting, and then continued on. I searched around but couldn't relocate it or the others that should be there. I felt very privileged to have had great looks of a bird disappearing from the US. I topped off my day with a stop at Opa-locka Airport to see the Burrowing Owls.
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