Posted by John Boyd on September 21, 2019 at 23:37:11
Despite the rain, and a big crowd (25!), we found more bird species (27) than we had birders. As has been recent practice, we met at the south Matheson parking lot, next to Fairchild. Some birders tried using the north lot. Fortunately, one of them called Brian and the group followed him to the south lot. Those of us who were there early heard Great Crested Flycatcher and saw a Prairie Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. We later caught up with one each of the first two, and lots of Gnatcatchers. Given the threat of rain, I was surprised to find that 24 people showed up for the walk. Counting me, the group was 25. We headed toward the north lot. At first, it was hard to find anything but Jays (mostly heard), a Starling, and some Red-bellied Woodpeckers (also mostly heard). Eventually, we found Yellow-throated Warbler, American Redstart, and Red-eyed Vireo. An immature Little Blue Heron was by the water and a couple of White Ibis flew over. We also spotted an Anhinga nearby perched in the mangroves. A flock of Common Grackles flew over before we hurried over to a picnic shelter due to heavier rain. Afterward, we searched the area near the north parking for a bit and started heading back. We soon heard a Yellow-throated Vireo. While hunting for it, we encountered some other birds: Prairie, lots of Gnatcatchers, Yellow-throated Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, and for a few of us, Prothonotary. Some saw the Vireo, but I did not. There were also Northern Cardinals about, but most that we saw were on the other side of Old Cutler Road. We headed back to the parking lot without finding anything new. Surprisingly, we only encountered one new bird on the service road. It was probably a thrush, but hurried across the road and out of sight before we could ID it. Once we got out in the open, we immediately spotted an Osprey. A Eurasian Collared Dove was on the wire, and a group of Mourning Doves was around some small puddles. We eventually found about 25 Mourning Doves here (they were up on the wire on our return, making them easy to count). By the time we headed west along the paved trail toward Red Road, the rain picked up, and more of the group left. We were down to about a dozen. The rain kept us from finding anything. We turned around after a short walk along Banyan Drive (across the canal from Red Road). We did find a perched Osprey here, but that was about it. The rain had stopped for our return, and we added Common Yellowthroat and Brown Thrasher. Just north of the Royal Palms that mark the nature trail, we added Northern Mockingbird. There was some more bird activity here. Some saw a piebald Summer Tanager, as well as more of the birds we had seen previously. On the nature trail, we added Ovenbird and Worm-eating Warbler. It was about 11:15 when we got back to the parking lot. After almost everyone had left, the last 3 of us found a male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Here's the list: Mourning Dove Eurasian Collared-Dove Ruby-throated Hummingbird Anhinga White Ibis Little Blue Heron Osprey Red-bellied Woodpecker Great Crested Flycatcher Red-eyed Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Blue Jay Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Brown Thrasher Northern Mockingbird European Starling Common Grackle Ovenbird Worm-eating Warbler Black-and-white Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Yellow-throated Warbler Prairie Warbler Northern Cardinal Summer Tanager