LAND OF MILK AND TYRANNIDAE

The first week of the new year found me situated me in Florida City for work.  Florida City is the gateway to the keys and Everglades NP, and some of the most interesting birding in the entire state.  For the last couple of months there have been many continuing interesting species hanging around just outside the park for birders to fawn over.  After reading the myriad reports I knew I had to make some time to go see them for myself.

My first stop was to the C-111 Canal where a male/female pair of vermilion flycatchers, a pair of western kingbirds, and a tropical kingbird had been hanging out.  And just like clockwork, I pulled off the shoulder of the road on the side of the canal and what do I see sitting on the chain link fence alongside the road, but a gorgeous male vermilion perched for the entire world to observe.  He was very cooperative and allowed for photos (for which I was now kicking myself for not bringing mine) and exhaustive looks.  It was my first time seeing a male vermilion and it was simply breathtaking.  The explosive and vibrant contrast between the red and black plumage is quite unlike anything your likely to see on another Tyrannidae member.

After gawking for ages, I headed over to the north side of the road to find the other species which had been seen there.  Right away I spotted the female vermilion sallying after insects on the powerlines hanging overhead.  Immediately after spotting here I noticed two kingbirds perched on the powerlines very close to each other, and one just a little bit away.  The two closest to me had bright yellow washes extending fairly far up their undersides and were actively sallying and hawking insects from the powerlines.  I figured these were the two westerns, but they didn't call even once so I decided to take a good look at the lone individual past them.  This individual had a bright yellow wash, but it extended further up on the undersides seemingly almost to near the chin and had a slightly larger bill than the other two.  It also did not call, but based on the comparative physical differences, I can safely discern I was viewing the lone tropical and two western kingbirds.  Three Tyrannidae members all within a tenth to quarter mile of each other in plain sight.

After this I headed just a small distance down the road to the Southern Glades Trail to see if I could find the brown-crested flycatcher being reported there.  I drove down to the annex area where it had been seen and as soon as I approached the area I spotted a Myiarchus perched on the powerlines which had a much paler yellow wash on the underside than a great-crested does.  As I stopped the car the flycatcher began calling, and there was no doubt about it.  I was face to face with my first brown-crested flycatcher.  Unfortunately it didn't hang around for long, but I did get some good looks at it before it flew off after breakfast.  I hung around looking for other birds in the area, and was about to leave when I heard the distinct "pit" of a least flycatcher.  I was able to call it out using a playback call and it popped into view for a few seconds before taking off.  At this point I couldn't believe my luck.  I was enamored to say the least.  But it wasn't over yet.

As I drove back towards the entrance I saw another birder out checking out an area.  So I stopped and asked what she was looking at and she said an ash-throated flycatcher and bell's vireo.  As I stood dumbfounded, I jumped out of the car and asked her if she minded me joining her.  I introduced myself and she did likewise.  She was very welcoming and helpful, and definitely an experienced birder very familiar with the area. Quickly we were able to spot the ash-throated (as it was calling repeatedly) and a great-crested flycatcher.  And it just got better.

I was unfamiliar with bell's vireo so she kindly explained the scold call she had been hearing and how the area we were looking at (Lucky Hammock) was named because of the propensity of bell's vireo to show up in this exact location.  After letting me listening to recordings of their calls, we heard one give a quick scold call and a short while later it actually sang a portion of it's song.  Unfortunately it was a bit shy and never came out for me to see, but it is enough knowing this is the spot to be on the lookout for them.  And I soon came to find out how appropriate was the name for this spot.  A yellow-breasted chat was calling from nearby, several orange crowned warblers were flitting about, as was northern parula, prairie warbler, eastern phoebe, indigo bunting, and five painted buntings (including two brilliant males) which all briefly perched in the hammock together. 

I was so exuberant I could hardly contain myself.  It was a real treat getting to talk with this birder because she had a great knowledge of the local birding and was so kind to boot.  I love these type of encounters with fellow birders, it makes it all the more enjoyable.  Before parting, she informed me of a La Sagra's flycatcher she had found in another part of the county and gave me ultra-specific instructions on where and when to best spot it.  As it was somewhat on my way to the airport, I decided to check it out.  How could I pass up a chance at seeing a La Sagra's?

I followed her directions to the T and after a few minutes of birding the area I decided to use a recording of the La Sagra's call to see if I could entice the individual.  Sure enough, I heard a clear and distinct single "wheeet" call.  I didn't think it would ever materialize though, as it appeared to be a bit shy.  However, after giving another "wheeet"call, it flew into the open for the briefest of time, allowing me to see the very pale, whitish/creamy colored undersides before it flew down into some thick, gnarly invasive exotic shrub vegetation.  I stood there completely at a loss for the amount of Tyrannidae members I had just observed in one day in the county.  Nine different members of the family!!!  There's just something about the sub-tropical climate down there which brings out the interesting.  Unbelievable.

NEW YEAR, NEW DAY, NEW BIRDS

I decided to head out with a fellow birder early in the morning on the first day of the year in order to try and start the new year off with a bang.  Right off the bat as I was walking out my front door I heard one of the resident barred owls calling.  Not too shabby for a first bird of the year.  I'll take it as a good omen of things to come this year.

So we decided to try for whip-poor-will at Camps Canal and see if any owls were around.  It took awhile to hear a few soft "whips" from a nearby whip-poor-will, but in the meantime we were able to hear barred, great-horned, and barn owls calling from all around in the pre-dawn darkness.  Once dawn started to show itself, we headed out on Cones Dike to see if we could locate a few of the more uncommon and rare birds, and see if we could get all three expected rails.

Apparently to atone for the unfathomable amount of bird diversity amassed in the county in 2012, we felt 2013 decided to bring in a lingering fog across the prairie basin to keep bird activity low.  Most species outside of the blue-gray gnatcatcher, yellow-rumped warbler, swamp sparrow, and marsh wren were either keeping a low profile or recovering from New Year's Eve festivities.  However, once the fog began to burn off and was replaced by warm sunshine, bird activity increased and became a bit more interesting.  We were able to hear all three expected rails (with only sora being visually encountered), find three northern waterthrushes, and one ash-throated flycatcher.  Even though we missed out on re-locating the wilson's warbler, fox sparrow, lincoln's sparrow, and least flycatcher, we saw a very nice species diversity on the basin.

Ash-throated Flycatcher (a new regular visitor to Alachua County???)

Afterwards, I decided to head to the Prairie Creek Conservation Area to see if I could re-locate the golden-crowned kinglets I had found the day prior.  They did not disappoint.  They were a bit further south, but still kept close to the creek/floodplain edge and seemed to be in the same mixed flock as the day before.  Most of the mixed flock species and numbers were very similar to the previous day, and the golden-crowneds made themselves readily apparent for observation.

After this jaunt, I decided to try to find a winter wren at the best known location in Alachua County on some sound advice.  I struck gold again, as I spotted the winter wren on a cypress "knee" and responding to playback of calls.  A carolina wren flew in next to the winter wren, and it provided an excellent observation that it is a giant in comparison with the winter wren.

Winter Wren

When all was said and done, the first day of birding for the new year started with a bang.  Now it's onto the La Chua side of the prairie to look for  a few other interesting species.  Time to get cracking on the new year.