Western Birds in South Florida

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.

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.

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.

Burrowing Owls

In addition to the rarities, Florida always provides a great opportunity to see local specialties up close ...

Tri-colored Heron (above) / White Ibis (below)

Bronzed Cowbird (above) / White-crowned Pigeon (below) 

And also a rare chance to go to the beach in shorts ....

Royal Tern (above) / Lesser Black-Backed Gulls (below)

Suburban Miami for ABA Birds and Exotics (Part 2)

More suburban Miami birding.

SATURDAY (continued)

From the Strip Malls in the morning to 'Disney Birding' in the afternoon ... at least that's what Carlos said.

Having hit our targets in the morning in suburban Miami we headed North into Palm Beach County in the afternoon.  There was actually an ABA bird for me to chase there, the recently accepted Nanday Parakeet, but we also planned to do some shameless year-listing at the 'Disney-like' birding spots in the county.

I don't love these places, the crowds of weekend birders on the boardwalks are a little ... hmmm ... awkward, and I've never loved places where crowd gather to wander and chat in a birding spot.  Still,  we had time to kill and we hoped to see some year birds while waiting for the parakeets.  First stop was the Green Cay Wetlands & Nature Center where the predictable crowds of birders over the age of 70 were strolling around the boardwalks causing traffic jams near every basking alligator or close great egret.  We did get good birds, adding Mottled Ducks, Wood Storks, Anhingas, Least Bittern, Purple Gallinule, and lots of Soras.  Best nature sighting at this spot was a very confiding River Otter which posed for photographs close to the boardwalk.  There were crowds, lots of chatter, and the whole place did feel like a theme park, but the wildlife was tame .... and close.  I won't post any point-blank photos of herons or egrets (OK, just a few) ...

Wood Stork (I feel bad for posting this, but it's Florida) ...

American Bittern (they look colder in New York) ...

River Otter (two shots)

Then on to Wakodahatchee Wetlands where we added some Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, more close herons and a surprise (for me) Neotropic Cormorant.  Apparently this bird has been around for a while and was overlooked for quite a while before being identified from photos taken by a New York birder.  Nice to see one in full breeding plumage, close to the ... cough ... boardwalk.

Neotropic Cormorant in full-on breeding plumage, close to the board walk.
Ignored by almost all the birders present that day .....

This spot also gave me an ABA bird.  We were supposedly killing time before going to see some Nanday Parakeets at a known roost site nearby, but while we were there we had some fly-over Nandays.  Just as well as it turns out as the roost site turned out to be a dud later in the evening.  Great add to the ABA list.

Nanday Parakeets, recently added to the ABA list.

SUNDAY

So back to the Bulbuls at dawn and back to walking the suburban street of Kendall.  I always feel awkward walking suburan streets and using bins to stare into people's gardens.  I'm always expecting to hear sirens but perhaps the folks in this neighborhood are used to strange people with bins wandering their streets.  Even so I'm almost manically friendly to anyone we encounter - cheerful 'good mornings' at uncomfortably loud volumes.  Amazed that I haven't been jailed.

Bulbuls however were not cooperating so we gave up after an hour and tried another area a little to the North.  We did add a few more warbler species in a truly tiny patch of native vegetation, and added another introduced parrot (by now you know I love them) when some Monk Parakeets flew over.  Still, after another hour of searching we were still drawing a blank, and then 'as if by magic' two Red-Whiskered Bulbuls flew silently over us (a few feet over our head) and flew on, vanishing into tall trees behind houses.  Crappy, but diagnostic, views (red vents), and even though we could have kept searching for better views I'd frankly had enough of the suburbs and it was time to move on.

Not a Short-tailed Hawk even though it showed a classic Short-tailed Hawk field mark - soaring
with Turkey and Black Vultures.   Turns out at Broad-winged Hawks winter in South Florida too.

So onwards and back to Matheson hoping for Short-tailed Hawk.  Perhaps they'd moved on already and, despite a couple of Broad-winged Hawks joining the vulture kettles, we skunked on that local goodie.  We did hear some Orange-winged Parrots but couldn't get a view as they passed over, and got another look at the La Sagra's Flycatcher, but we were running out of options and I pushed Carlos to bug a friend of his who was rumored to have Shiny Cowbirds at his feeder.  So Carlos made the call and, after a stop for excellent Peruvian Seafood (hey I was on vacation) we headed off to Homestead on a cowbird hunt.

Shiny Cowbird (hiding behind Red-winged Blackbird) in Homestead.

The cowbird hunt is detailed in a  previous post so I won't repeat but Shiny Cowbird was a good bird to add for the state and the ABA.  After that, I was starting to get fatigued (we aren't used to sun in New York) so after a quick stop for shorebirds (and a shocking number, 40+, of Lesser Black-backed Gulls ... who knew ... ) I called the trip and headed back to the hotel.  Great trip, good birds, great guiding from Carlos.  A very nice way to spend a weekend away from New York.

Suburban Miami for ABA Birds and Exotics (Part 1)

A quick trip for ABA birds in Miami

When I was in Miami in February I saw an Aaratinga Parakeet on South Beach.  The trip was most definitely not a birding trip, and I had to list the parakeet as 'aaratinga sp.' as I saw it from a cab and couldn't stop to ID it properly, but it gave me an urge to come back and do a few days birding in the Miami area looking for some of the local specialties.

It took me a couple of weeks to get back but on Friday the 7th of March I flew back to Miami and arranged to meet up with Carlos Sanchez (local birding expert) for two days of birding in the Miami area.

SATURDAY

An early start at the University of Miami Campus and a quick introduction that Miami is simply not like other cities.  Muscovy Ducks ("Florida Feral Type) loafed around the lake and a Spot-breasted Oriole sang loudly and obviously from a tree near the parking lot.  We also checked out local trees and bumped into a flock of Scaly-headed Parrots (not ABA-countable but apparently breeding locally in small numbers).

Muscovy Ducks are common and obvious in the Miami suburbs.  Technically countable
in the ABA area (perhaps a technicality) and certainly they seem to be doing well in Miami.

Spot-breasted Oriole.  More local and restricted (and ABA countable).

Scaly-headed Parrot.  Not ABA countable, but apparently breeding locally.

Buoyed by the easy oriole we headed off the the Baptist Hospital area in Kendall and a search for the local Red-whiskered Bulbuls.  Carlos has scouted the area a few days earlier and found a number of bulbuls, some even vocal, but we put a couple of hours in at the site and simply couldn't come up with one.  Oh well, we had another day to look so no panic at that point.  We did pick up more exotics though, adding Common Hill Myna, Mitred Parakeet, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, and Egyptian Goose.  None countable in the ABA yet but all clearly well established and perhaps on their way to countable status.

Mitred Parakeet.  Common and obvious in the Miami area but not (yet) countable
in the ABA.

Egyptian Goose.  Another established local (not countable yet).

Then on to a local office building to look for White-winged Parakeet (on the ABA list).  As we parked on a side street a few parakeets flew over us calling, and walking around the corner we came up to a breeding colony in ornamental palms around the entrance to an office complex.  The birds allowed close approach and plenty of photos so we dallied for a while.  I was liking the exotic birding thing.

White-winged Parakeet (two shots).  So much more obvious and separable from Yellow-chevroned
Parakeet in flight .  Why this one is on the ABA list and Yellow-chevroned isn't is a bit of a mystery.

And then on to Matheson Hammock to look for the long-staying La Sagra's Flycatcher.  I had seen this species once before in the Bahamas but I have to admit that seeing it every day on my eBird ABA Rarities update email had made me really want to get this individual.  This is a species that shows up almost annually in South Florida but it is a Code 3 bird and so many other birders had seen it this Winter, and I really wanted to add it.

Arriving at the park we split up to look for the bird but before we'd gone too far I heard the flycatcher calling back in the mangroves and we circled back towards the parking lot, zeroing in on the call.  Before long the bird got came in closer and eventually popped out on some trees in the open at the edge of the picnic area.  We had great views/photos and, this being the only time during the morning that we saw other birders, we were able to get some other flycatcher hunters on to the bird (why aren't there more local birders here?).  Very happy to get this one so easily, a very cool bird.

La Sagra's Flycatcher (2 shots).  Looking quite 'Pewee-like' in the first shot but more of a
classic look in the second.

We finished our morning in Miami with three more stops in urban settings for good birds.  We had a group of Bronzed Cowbirds in a strip mall parking lot, some Common Mynas in yet another parking lot, and some Purple Swamphens in a pond near a bigger parking lot of another shopping mall.  All fascinating species (the cowbirds at least are naturally occurring and not introduced) but all good countable ABA birds.  The variety in Miami is truly fascinating even if the birding locations aren't exactly a 'wilderness experience'.  We did spend a lot of the morning in parking lots.

Bronzed Cowbird.  A stop sign and a bicycle in the background at the parking lot where they
hang out.

Common Myna.  Out second Myna species of the weekend and another strip-mall specialist.
This one is countable though.

Purple Swamphen.  Who knows how these things got here (this is an Asian race based
on the grey head).  Regardless of how they for here though, they certainly seem to be
established.

Part 2 to follow ....

Postscript:  The ABA added Egyptian Goose to the official list in August 2014.

Photospot: Cowbirds ... Really? Yes Cowbirds ....

Had the rare privilege (at least in the ABA Area) of seeing three species of Cowbirds at feeders in Homestead, Florida on Sunday with Carlos Sanchez.  I don't spent so much time looking at Cowbirds in New York other than to scan flocks for odd blackbirds, but I have to admit it was actually pretty cool to have multiple species at the same place.  And they do give good iridescence ...

Brown-headed Cowbird.

Bronzed Cowbird - a good bird in the ABA area and they do really pop on the iridescence front.  We saw several in strip mall parking lots in urban Miami but also a few in suburban Homestead.  Another potentially invasive species that hasn't really been able to get far beyond the borders.

Another Bronzed Cowbird shot, this one from urban Miami ( a strip mall) on Saturday.

Shiny Cowbird (hiding behind the Red-winged Blackbird).  Folks thought that these things would be the next invasive species but they seem to have stalled and remain a (Code 3) ABA rarity confined to a few spots in Southern Florida.  Common in the Caribbean but they probably aren't going to make it in the US in any numbers.  I though it looked pretty cool - maybe rarity overcomes prejudices?