Posted by Brian Rapoza on November 16, 2019 at 23:51:46
Twenty birders participated in today's birding trip, led by Paul Bithorn, to Shark Valley and Big Cypress Preserve. The group assembled at the Shark Valley entrance gate and began tallying birds even before the gates were opened. A few participants reported seeing Snail Kite during the drive along Tamiami Trail to Shark Valley. In a couple of hours of birding on the Bobcat boardwalk and the tram road, we encountered the following: Eurasian Collared-Dove, Limpkin (heard), Killdeer (heard), Greater Yellowlegs, Wood Stork, Anhinga, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned-Night-Heron, White Ibis, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Belted Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Tree Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Common Grackle, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler and Prairie Warbler. We then drove west to the Oasis Visitor Center in Big Cypress Preserve, where members of the group quickly located the Vermilion Flycatcher that has been present here for the past couple of weeks. The bird was very obliging, though most of us had to view and photograph it through slats in a wooden fence. A Bronzed Cowbird was also seen during our brief visit. Our next stop was Kirby Storter Boardwalk, where we added a few new trip birds, including a late migrant Yellow-billed Cuckoo, seen along the boardwalk, and a light morph Short-tailed Hawk, seen soaring overhead as we were finishing our picnic lunch. Other new birds at this stop included Little Blue Heron, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Carolina Wren, Northern Waterthrush, Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler and Northern Cardinal. Our last stop of the day was at Sweetwater Slough on Loop Road. We initially found this spot to be devoid of songbirds, but with a little coaxing, a flock eventually arrived. Trip birds added at this stop included Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk, Tufted Titmouse, American Redstart, Yellow-throated Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler.