2008 Tour Narrative
In Brief: South Florida in late April is always an exciting place to birdwatch, providing a nice combination of specialties with the potential for a wide variety of migrants—all in a warm tropical setting. This year’s tour was very successful: our total of 172 species included most of the specialties found in South Florida, and included a wonderful day at Fort Jefferson on the Dry Tortgas. We visited the pine woods in the central portion of the state, where we saw birds such as Red-cockaded Woodpecker and Brown-headed Nuthatch, and also toured the wonderful Wakadohatchee Wetlands, Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, Corkscrew Sanctuary, and Everglades National Park.
In Detail: We began in Miami with a search for some of the exotics found locally. We were very successful finding a stunning Spot-breasted Oriole, and had excellent views of Monk Parakeet and Red-whiskered Bulbul, but failed to find the decreasing White-winged Parakeet. After a brief visit to a local park in Miami for migrants, where we saw our first of many Blackpoll Warblers and a scattering of other warblers, we headed north toward Boynton Beach. Our late-afternoon visit to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge was quite nice, with a stunning Snail Kite flying at eye-level along the entrance road, and then fine views of Limpkin, Purple Gallinule, and a wide variety of the local herons and ibises.
Our morning at Wakodahatchee Wetlands was one of the more enjoyable: the beautiful boardwalk that meanders through the marsh was very productive, with close views of Least Bittern, Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, Anhingas on nests (with young!), lots of Tricolored Herons, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Roseate Spoonbill, Least Tern, and generally lots of close birds to look at and photograph. Heading north toward Kissimmee, we stopped at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and had our first (and best) views of Florida Scrub-Jays—but alas, we did not have any peanuts for them, and they turned their noses (I guess birds don’t really have noses, do they?) up at a fruit bar! We ended the day at Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area and a wonderful late afternoon filled with Bachman’s Sparrow, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Towhee, and brief but excellent views of a Red-cockaded Woodpecker, our target for the area. The next morning we returned to Three Lakes, stopping first at a lake in Kissimmee with Snail Kite and Limpkin. Three Lakes was equally good in the morning, with additional views (in the scope this time) of Red-cockaded Woodpecker.
We next headed south toward Naples. En route we found a flooded sod farm with a nice variety of shorebirds, including breeding-plumaged Stilt Sandpipers and lots of Lesser Yellowlegs. Sandhill Cranes were numerous in his area. We passed by more Florida Scrub-Jays near Archibald Biological Station, then found a very cooperative Red-headed Woodpecker right after seeing a pair of Pileateds! A great woodpecker day indeed! We finished off a wonderful day with a visit to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary; although it was very dry there, the swamp was still beautiful to walk through, and a perched Red-shouldered Hawk at close range, along with a scattering of migrant warblers, made the visit worthwhile.
The next morning we visited Tigertail Beach on Marco Island, one of the few areas for shorebirds remaining in the Naples area. We were rewarded with a fine assortment of shorebirds, with close scope views of many Dunlin, Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers, Sanderlings, and both Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Our best birds at this location were a pair of Marbled Godwits and several Red Knots in breeding plumage.
We then drove across the Tamiami Trail through the heart of the Everglades and spent the late afternoon in Everglades National Park. Our highlights there included a close study of a “Würdemann’s” Heron, an American Avocet, and good looks at a Shiny Cowbird. The following morning we started again in Everglades Park and successfully found one of the few remaining “seeable” Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows.
It was then on to the Florida Keys. We stopped along the Card Sound road and had very nice views of the resident Yellow Warbler, potentially a different species and closely allied with the Mangrove Warbler of Cuba and the mangroves throughout the Neotropics. The Keys were excellent, with reasonable numbers of migrants at each of our planned stops, including a nice male Golden-winged Warbler, quite rare in South Florida. We saw numerous Black-whiskered Vireos and Gray Kingbirds, and got excellent views of a perched White-crowned Pigeon, all sought-after South Florida specialties. At Key West we found both Western Kingbird and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, as well as a nice variety of warblers.
Our day trip to Fort Jefferson was great, despite the rough return! On the way out we had a pair of Bridled Terns, and as we approached the fort, we began seeing hundreds of both Sooty Terns and Brown Noddys. Certainly the best highlight at Fort Jefferson was the excellent scope views of the Black Noddy on the coaling docks. We had 16 species of warbler, including a nice male Black-throated Green and a Yellow-breasted Chat. Also fun was a scattering of thrushes, including a Wood Thrush, a Gray-cheeked Thrush, and a Veery. Add to all of that both Brown and Masked Boobies, and our visit to the Dry Tortugas was a great success.
We finished off the tour with some birding around Key West, with stunning scope views of about 25 Roseate Terns, and then a stop in south Miami for the breeding Cave Swallows. It was great traveling with a fun group.
- Gary Rosenberg
Updated: May 2008