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Posted by Alex Harper on 21:50:45 04/23/05
Today I led Washington D.C./Virginia birder Jim Curtis, Minnesota birders Brett and Janice Culver, Montana birder Helen Carlson, and St. Petersburg birder Colin Gjervold around Miami. We had a very good day, and all but Colin and I had life birds.
They picked up just before 8:00, already a little late, and we went around Miami Shores for orioles and parakeets. Our second stop produced 3 White-winged Parakeets, a life bird for all four out-of-state birders. This was ABA #744 for Helen Carlson. At our next stop in Miami Shores, we found three adult Spot-breasted Orioles, including one on a nest. Four Magnificent Frigatebirds flew over, and a flock of warblers included a whole bunch of Blackpolls.
We did not find much in Miami Springs, but Monk Parakeets at the Nursing Home, another Spot-breasted Orioles, and a Bronzed Cowbird. The cowbird was somewhere around Apache and Wren. It was at a yard on a corner with feeders and a Purple Martin house.
We stopped at A.D. Barnes for lunch, where I met Greg Jones and his wife. They directed us to a beautiful Zebra Finch near Homeless Hammock. At Barnes we had a late Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Blue, and Blackpoll Warblers, and Red-tailed and Cooper's Hawks. Our next stop was to Matheson Hammock Park. We checked out the area north of Fairchild Tropical Gardens, the mud flats actually inside the park, and the western-most part of the park across the street from Old Cutler Road. Just north of Fairchild, we had Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-white, Prairie, Cape May, and Northern Parula Warblers, Great-crested Flycatcher, and Pied-billed Grebes. As far as exotics fo, we heard Hill Mynas and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets flew over. That was #745 for Helen. We also has a 4 foot Spectacled Caiman here, and let us get within 5 feet of it, and still didn't swim off. At the beach at Matheson Hammock County Park, we had Least Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Semipalmated Plovers. The westernmost part of the park had White-crowned Pigeons, Hill Mynas, Indigo Buntings, and more Yellow-chevroned Parakeets.
The neighborhood across from Kendall Baptist Hospital did not produce any bulbuls. We did find a fifth oriole and more White-crowned Pigeons. As we were heading to the Royal Palm Tennis Courts for bulbuls, we stopped to watch a Cape May Warbler. As we watched it, a bulbul flew right past us into someones front yard. We watched this beautiful bird as close as 10 feet away for a couple minutes in the beautiful 4:30 sun light. The bird was seen on SW 68 Avenue and 98 Street
We ate dinner at the Chicken Kitchen on Sunset near the Doc Thomas House, and as we were walking back to the car, a male American Redstart flew up into the trees. Weird bird for a busy city street. The parrot roost at SW 62 Avenue and SW 64 Street hosted about 25 White-fronted Parrots and 12 Lilac-crowned Parrots. I heard a couple Orange-winged Parrots. More White-crowned Pigeons were around, and a Common Nighthawk flew over. The campus of UM had a Brown Pelican, four Gray Kingbirds, and an assortment of herons, as well as four Red-masked Parakeets. Use caution around the parrot roost; stay close to your car, and bird with a friend if possible. Don't stick around too long, either.
Our final stop was Barry University in Miami Shores, where a Burrowing Owl sat at it's burrow. We ended the day with about 70 species, and a couple great birds.
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