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Posted by Paul Bithorn on 12:19:26 02/27/05
On Saturday, February 26, 2005, Rock Jetty (Raul Urguelles), Juan Villamil and I, headed out at 6:30 a.m. in search of life-birds, year-birds and beer-birds. All three would be included amongst the (95) species seen.
Our first stop was Greenway Road, where we ran into friends, John and Chadda Shelly from Boca Raton. The female Yellow-headed Blackbird was seen in a mixed flock of Red-winged Blackbirds, Boat-tailed Grackles and Brown-headed Cowbirds. A sub-adult Bald Eagle and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher were also in the area. An adult and juvenile Great-horned Owl were near the nest at the intersection of Greenway and Fritchey Road.
A Limpkin was spotted in a drainage ditch along the Tamiami Trail on the drive to Eagle Lakes Community Park. The two Eurasian Wigeons were easily seen at their previously reported location mixed in with American Wigeons, Mallard x Mottled Duck, Mottled Ducks, Blue-Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler and Green-winged Teal. An Adult and sub-adult Bald Eagle, Purple Gallinule and Bronzed Cowbirds were among many species seen about the park. We treated several youngsters to scope views of these birding gems.
We headed for the Briggs Nature Center, where several un-banded Scrub Jays (this species was reintroduced here), Eastern Towhee and Swallow-tailed Kites were seen. I was the only one who missed the kites but later spotted one along the Trail where the Turner River crosses.
Our next stop was Everglades City, where I stopped by to see old friends at Triad Seafood and to purchase some delicious smoked fish dip. We had delicious Red Snapper Sandwiches at the Oysterhouse, where we later quaffed a few Ybor Browns to celebrate Rock s life Eurasian Wigeon. We headed to Smallwood s Store in Chokoloskee and spotted (15) American Oystercatchers and a Caspian Tern on a nearby oyster bar, along with Red-breasted Mergansers, flocks of Cedar Waxwings and American Goldfinches, White-crowned Pigeon and Western Kingbird. We later spotted a birder from Connecticut peering up at a Great-horned Owl perched next to its nest in an Australian Pine on a road leading into a new development adjacent to the Everglades City airport.
Our last stop was the SFWMD water control structure just west of the Miccosukee Resort near dusk, where hundreds of water birds congregated in the Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area 3 B. We soon spotted a few Roseate Spoonbills and a beautiful Sacred Ibis feeding amongst the Wood Storks and White and Glossy Ibis. This exotic species was a lifer for Rock and me.
The last species of the day was a Solitary Sandpiper at the puddle in front of the Curtiss Mansion on Deer Run in Miami Springs.
Life is good....... birding with my Cuban amigos.
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