A Quick Trip to Miami-Dade County Florida
Just back from a lightening, two-day, trip to South Florida where I met Madeira bird guides and old friends Hugo Romano and Catarina Fagundes, and local birding expert Carlos Sanchez for a brief, but very birdy weekend.
I had no real targets for this trip, and with no Caribbean rarities around I was just looking for a good few days of birding and a change of scenery. As it turns out, the highlights were mostly Western vagrants and scarce Western wintering birds. Added six new birds to my Florida State List and had a great time. A few photos below ....
Best bird of the trip by far was a BUFF-BELLIED HUMMINGBIRD, a species I'd seen only once before in Texas. This bird, a great bird for Florida, was unfortunately not very photogenic, staying largely inside a dense tangle of flowering shrubs, but we did get good views and enjoyed a nice hour with three species of hummingbirds (the Buff-bellied, a couple of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, and a lot of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds) at a small park South of Miami.
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| Rufous Hummingbird, immature male. |
While we were at the hummingbird site we got word of a WESTERN SPINDALIS (which would have been an ABA bird for me) just re-found by Rangel Diaz, but unfortunately had to wait for Saturday morning for access to the site. There bright an early, we joined a gaggle of locals hoping to see the bird but after three hours we had to admit defeat, drawing a consolation prize with a local WESTERN TANAGER, not a bad bird for Florida even if it wasn't the hoped for super-rarity.
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| Western Tanager |
Another treat, which took several attempts to see but ended up surrendering, were a group of Burrowing Owls at a local airport. We also managed to get a few other 'goodies" with two SHORT-TAILED HAWKS and a couple of BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHERS.
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| Burrowing Owls |
In addition to the rarities, Florida always provides a great opportunity to see local specialties up close ...
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| Tri-colored Heron (above) / White Ibis (below) |
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| Bronzed Cowbird (above) / White-crowned Pigeon (below) |
And also a rare chance to go to the beach in shorts ....
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| Royal Tern (above) / Lesser Black-Backed Gulls (below) |
