Posted by Alex Harper on January 20, 2016 at 23:51:45
Ethan Kistler of Ohio (now living and guiding in South Africa) came down late 1/16 and joined me for three days of birding Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. It had been nine years since Ethan had visited South Florida, the previous time where he joined Andy Bankert, Phil Chaon of Cleveland and me for a maniacal tour around South Florida when we were all wrapping up high school in early 2007. Ben Woodard would join us for. Despite three days of strong winds, along with rain on our first morning, we still managed to tally 140 species. Highlights included Gadwall and Northern Pintail at Cutler Wetlands, Short-tailed Hawk (11+), Wilson's and Piping Plovers, White-tailed Kite (6), Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Burrowing Owl, Mangrove Cuckoo, White-crowned Pigeon, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Cave Swallow, Wilson's, Nashville and Blue-winged Warblers, and a heard only Western Spindalis. Exotics cooperated very well with Egyptian Goose, Purple Swamphen, Common Myna, White-winged, Yellow-chevroned and Monk Parakeets and Spot-breasted Orioles. We spent our first morning at Markham Park, and this is where we were greeted by a passing front with rain and wind. Our target was the Western Spindalis, which has now become more difficult to find. We would not see it despite over four hours of searching. We did tally a couple Gray-headed (formerly Purple) Swamphens from the dike that leads from the nature trail and several Spot-breasted Orioles. From here we made our way to Castellow Hammock Park where we ran into a number of birders looking for the Buff-bellied Hummingbird(s). We would see one, giving itself away by it's distinctive sputtering calls and chips. Short-tailed, Broad-winged Hawks and a Peregrine Falcon were picked up while we watched the hummingbird. After some socializing, a quick stop at Homestead Airport General Aviation Airport was in order for Burrowing Owl. We'd have two here along with bonus Cave Swallows. It was then on to The Annex and Lucky Hammock, finding them both rather quiet due to winds and overcast. We settled with a White-tailed Kite feeding on the north side of SR-9336 directly north of Lucky Hammock. After nightfall, two Eastern Whip-poor-wills graced Lucky Hammock along with a coyote. We'd see another Whip once inside Everglades National Park en route to our campsite in the pinelands. On Monday morning we would rise and shine well before sunrise to listen for rails and search for owls at the end of Research Road. We spent the dawn chorus here, hearing Great Horned Owls before dawn, hearing Sora and Sedge Wrens after sunrise, and seeing up to four White-tailed Kites at the same time using a scope. We backtracked into the pinelands to pick up Brown-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Towhee and Pine Warbler just as the winds picked up for the day. Our goal was to work the hardwood hammocks on Old Ingraham Highway, but locating passerines in that weather was slow going. We'd still make out with most of the expected warblers before successfully hitting Anhinga Trail for Purple Gallinules. Feeling a little defeated by the elements, a stop near the turn for Lucky Hammock hosted a group of at least eleven Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and a couple Western Kingbirds. A couple male Scissor-taileds dazzled us and bolstered our energy for the rest of the day. Our next destination was Cutler Wetlands to catch up with waterfowl and freshwater shorebirds. We would see Green-winged and Blue-winged Teal along with an American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, and a female Gadwall along with resident Mottled Ducks. Feeling the desire to head up to Miami and track down a few more specialties, Egyptian Goose was picked up en route to A.D. Barnes Park to pull out warblers in the wind and look for White-crowned Pigeons. It was at Homeless Hammock at Barnes that we would succeed with just that: a Nashville Warbler and three adult pigeons had us high fiving. Worm-eating Warbler was another nice addition to a growing warbler list. With afternoon moving along, we'd hit the Ocean Bank near Miami International Airport for White-winged Parakeets. We arrived just as a large flock of Brotogeris parakeets flew in. We identified most as White-wingeds, with a handful of Yellow-chevroneds and a couple that we never got good enough looks at. We tracked them down in a neighborhood near the bank to set up the scope and admire them preening in a Royal Palm before dashing off to Crandon Park to do some shorebirding. At Crandon by 4:45 PM, and we ran into up and coming young birder and Key Biscayne resident, Nico. Nico was counting up shorebirds and had a Wilson's Plover staked out among plenty of Sanderlings, Dunlins and Semipalmated and Piping Plovers. Using the scope, we could see distant Northern Gannets and Magnificent Frigatebirds. Big shout out to Nico for giving us the tour of his backyard. A very drab Cape May Warbler was near the concession stand, and it was time to call it a day. After touring Midtown for food, we headed back to my apartment near Wynwood to rest up before a final day of birding. It was another early morning on Tuesday, and this time we would hit the mangroves in the Black Point Marina for Mangrove Cuckoo. It did not take long before we spotted one slowly working up a Red Mangrove. It used to be thought that this secretive bird was a rare winter resident here, but we are quickly learning that they are actually present in decent numbers year round. After visiting the mangroves, we walked the path along the boat channel that leads to the bay. We hoped for loons, Horned Grebes and scoters, but we settled with Red-breasted Mergansers, eight Lesser Scaup, an adult Peregrine Falcon and hordes of gulls heading to the dump. A quick stop at Dump Marsh was pretty fruitless, but we did take video of an obliging Merlin through the scope. A swing at Cutler Wetlands again would yield the Northern Pintail that we missed the day before along with continuing yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers. After coffee and empanadas in Cutler Bay, we tracked down the previously reported Wilson's Warbler at Chapman Field Park. It was directly across from the dumping station in the Brazilian Red Peppers with a male American Redstart. Finally at Matheson, we were presently surprised to find a Blue-winged Warbler at the northern end of the picnic area. When entering through the main entrance, park in the small parking area on the left. Between this parking area and Old Cutler Road is a small concrete path at the very northern edge of the park. The Blue-winged was working the low growth with a large group of gnatcatchers and warblers. The area west of Old Cutler was very quiet around lunch time. We dipped on the Warbling Vireos that Carlos Sanchez found last month. As we were preparing to leave Matheson, we got a message that informed us that the spindalis at Markham had been reported that morning after a few days of negative reports. After some Nascar driving that would make my mom wish she could still ground me, we made it to Markham. Birders started materializing out of woodwork, but no one had seen the spindalis nor the orioles all afternoon. We speculated that this bird must be wandering a bit more greatly since it's initial discovery or laying low when not following the orioles, and after about an hour of sleuthing, Ethan and I heard it call from the buttonwoods that line the butterfly garden. We got the attention of other birders, and the bird would be heard a few more times in this area over the next 20 minutes or so, but heavy winds prevented us from pinpointing exactly were it was in dense shrubbery near the butterfly garden. A "heard only" would have to do this time around. We headed out around 5:30 so that Ethan could rent a car that would take him north to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival. I'll hopefully be seeing some of you up there this weekend where the birding will continue onwards. Alex Harper