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Posted by Alex Harper on 14:20:28 12/11/05
This morning Paul Bithorn and Juan Villamil picked me up for yet another exciting Sunday of birding. Our plan for today was to look for the Hooded Merganser at Greynold's Park, then head to Ft. Lauderdale to check for the anis. Two Spot-breasted Orioles were seen at 7:27 near the intersection of 94th street and North Miami Avenue in Miami Shores. Heading north to Greynold's we stopped briefly in Biscayne Park because we heard parakeets. While turning into a street, I spotted a dark phase hawk sitting right out in the open. A dark-morph Short-tailed Hawk, and perched. This is only the third occasion I have seen a perched Short-tailed Hawk. Just half a mile later, I spotted an adult Broad-winged Hawk plucking some breakfast. A good sized flock of White-winged Parakeets were seen in North Miami.
We were not able to find the Hooded Merganser at Greynold's Park, but there was a little activity around the tot-lot. American Robin, Yellow-throated and Blue-headed Vireos, Prairie and Black-and-white Warblers were seen and heard. Things quieted down a little and I wandered off and found Northern Parulas, Black-throated Green Warbler, American Redstart, and more of the same. About twenty minutes later when I returned to Paul and Juan I saw them working through a flock of about thirty birds. Juan then turned around and said "chickadee". After about three minutes I got on the chickadee and several other warbler species:
Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped, Yellow-throated, Pine, and Palm.
A Ruby-throated Hummingbird and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were also seen. We watched the flock for another thirty minutes or so, then headed to Broward. West of Aventura, we stopped along a the large man-made lakes along Miami Gardens Drive. We picked up a few species including Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Finally in Ft. Lauderdale, we searched for the airport anis without success. Hopefully someone has seen them after Hurricane Wilma. A quick detour around the Tri-rail station ponds produced nothing more than a few American Coots.
A quick decision to got to Topeekeegee Yugnee Park was a wise decision. One buck per person, and we parked just south of the park toll booth. Two Downy Woodpeckers fed among many Blue Jays. A Common Yellowthroat was drawn out of the cattails by pishing, and Pied-billed Grebes were out on the lake. At the extreme southwest end of the park near the old volleyball nets I found a Nashville Warbler hanging out with a Prairie. I ran off to tell Paul and Juan but when we returned to the spot the bird was not to be found. We had to compesate with four beautiful Blue-crowned Parakeets feeding in the oaks. Before we left to search the rest of the park, Paul decided to park just south of the toll booth/park entrance. Great idea, because in a small mixed flock Juan spotted a gorgeous Blue-winged Warbler. We watched it for several minutes, then headed off to the northeast side of the lake only to find a couple Ring-necked Ducks. We decided to leave the birding outing at that, and headed back into Miami-Dade County. Nearly eighty species were seen for the day.
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