Posted by Luis A Gonzalez on December 23, 2019 at 03:59:35
Only one birder joined me today for this day trip around the Flamingo area of Everglades National Park and other sites within the park and Lucky Hammock outside of it. A number of reasons can be given for the lack of other birders, like waking up early to drive to the end of the park, but I think the main reasons is that we're in the holiday season and everyone has their own plans (sadly this trip is dependent on the tides of the bay, so I couldn't do it earlier in the year even though I wanted to), along with the weather forecast being predicted way worse than it actually was! As said before, the weather, while not great, it wasn't horrible enough to take away time on the field from us except for the wind that kept most birds tucked inside of the bushes. As a result, many common bird species that we'd normally get like Painted Bunting, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and a variety of warbler species failed to make an appearance; and the cold winds while they did give close looks of many species of raptors, made it impossible to get a Short-tailed Hawk for the day. Ignoring the negatives, here are some of the positives of the day, a beautiful sunrise over the Florida bay and some scooping over the water showed a large variety of water birds, everything from both pelican species to dozens of Snowy Egrets, both species of Night-Herons and close ups of Roseate Spoonbills and the first of many Belted Kingfishers seen throughout the day. The old visitor center also had in the lawn around the ramp a surprise in the form of two Chipping Sparrows that seemed to think that the fences worked like perfect barrier to keep us on one side and them on the other, and the multiple occupied Osprey nests in the area gives good hope for the hatchlings early next year. Eco Pond proved to be average with the main highlight being a Yellow-throated Warbler at the entrance of the trail and a Peregrine Falcon that cruised by. The Amphitheater and the surrounding beach area was as barren as could be, probably due to the strong winds; and Mrazek Pond only provided us with the only Anhingas of the day and a massive 100+ flock of Tree Swallows. Paurotis Pond was slow, but hints of a good breeding season were there as multiple Spoonbills were seen flying in and out of the trees, but as is with all of the trips I guide in the park, a Bald Eagle felt like it had to take center stage as we looked around the pond. Pay-hay-okee Overlook was barren for the most part, thanks in part to the strong gusts of wind that had the roof of the overlook banging, but like every other stop on the trip, new birds were added, and this time they came in the forms of Red-winged Blackbirds, Boat-tailed Grackles, and a lonesome Red-tailed Hawk that was soaring was too low due to the lack of updrafts. The last stop of the day was Lucky Hammock, and while it had been lucky for many people over the last few weeks, none of the rarities of the area were seen except for one Tropical Kingbird that was happily eating an insect on the wire before being pushed to the fence by one of the many Loggerhead Shrikes in the area. Other birds of note included a singing Eastern Meadowlark, an American Redstart among many Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers in the backside of the Hammock, and the last new bird of the day being a low flying Swainson's Hawk on the walk out. In all, the trip was successful, if not a lot shorter than most Everglades trips I've guided or been a part of, we were done by 12:40PM! If there was anything I could change than it would probably be the weather forecasters that made it sound like Armageddon was coming today and kept other possible birders from joining me today. Oh well, there's always next time. Bird Checklist: Common Ground Dove 1 Willet 200 (Seen before the walk started) Laughing Gull 1 Royal Tern 1 Black Skimmer 2 Wood Stork 2 Anhinga 6 Double-crested Cormorant 5 American White Pelican 47 Brown Pelican 24 Great Blue Heron 4 Great Egret 13 Snowy Egret 46 Little Blue Heron 8 Tricolored Heron 8 Cattle Egret 3 Green Heron 4 Black-crowned Night-Heron 2 Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1 White Ibis 41 Roseate Spoonbill 16 Black Vulture 35 Turkey Vulture 26 Bald Eagle 1 Osprey 12 (4 Occupied Nests) Red-tailed Hawk 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 Swainson's Hawk 1 Barred Owl 1 (HO before walk started) Belted Kingfisher 5 Red-bellied Woodpecker 6 American Kestrel 2 Peregrine Falcon 1 Eastern Phoebe 6 Great Crested Flycatcher 1 Tropical Kingbird 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 24 Loggerhead Shrike 2 Tree Swallow 131 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 14 European Starling 32 Gray Catbird 12 Northern Mockingbird 7 Chipping Sparrow 2 Eastern Meadowlark 1 Red-winged Blackbird 4 Boat-tailed Grackle 20 Common Grackle 5 Common Yellowthroat 7 American Redstart 1 Northern Parula 1 Palm Warbler 14 Yellow-rumped Warbler 6 Yellow-throated Warbler 1 Northern Cardinal 7