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Posted by Alex Harper on 17:20:42 12/15/13
On 12/14, Jim King and I conducted a count at FIU North, Elaine Gordon-Enchanted Forest and Arch Creek Parks, the well-vegetated neighborhoods of Miami Shores, Morningside Park, and Pelican Harbor. There weren't any birds to write home about in my opinion, but seventy-four species made for a strong final species count.
Thirteen warbler species were detected at Enchanted Forest and Arch Creek Parks, including three Black-throated Blue Warblers and three Black-throated Green Warblers. We failed to track down Magnolia and Nashville Warblers, both of which have been in the park this month.
FIU North has plenty of overgrown areas with Castor Bean and Burma Reed which could bear sparrows, but a House Wren was the only bird that's a little harder to come by in the Miami area. A female Red-breasted Merganser browsed in the ponds near the student center.
Morningside offered very little except for several roosting Yellow-crowned Night-herons in the Red and White Mangrove swamp.
Miami Shores delivered many flocks of wintering gnatcatchers and warblers - it seems that there is a group every few hundred feet. A large group of White-winged Parakeets - 80 by our estimate - was a lucky find as the cruised overhead. White-eyed Parakeets also made a strong showing. Two Short-tailed Hawks loafed high overhead, one being barely visible without the aid of binoculars.
The show of the day was at Pelican Harbor around dusk. Upwards of 4,000 Fish Crows, 2,000 White Ibis, egrets, herons, pelicans, cormorants and others all converged upon the islands in the bay to roost. Chestnut-fronted Macaws and Monk Parakeets were also located in all the mayhem. At the seabird station, we picked up our only Green Heron and three Black-crowned Night-herons for thee outing.
Alex
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