Saturday, February 2, 2013

A LAWLESS LAND

The entire month of January found me located in Florida City for work.  For those unfamiliar with Florida City, it is the last true town before you head to the Keys.  It is a somewhat wild place, as there is not a huge law enforcement presence, and it is noticeable when you head down some county roads where power distribution poles are shot up and target ranges (along with the shell casings and copious amounts of litter) are set up in the surrounding glades wetlands.  This is where I was stationed for work for nearly 4 weeks straight.  Unfortunately with only one day off work a week and beginning the day well before dawn and finishing up around 5pm, this left little time for birding or this blog.  Since I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, I decided to go birding as much as my schedule permitted.

Luckily I was able to run into some fantastic local birders early on who provided some great tips to find some awesome species and locations to check out as well.  The Tropical Audubon Society has a great message board which was also crucial in helping figure out where I wanted to head out to maximize my fun with the little free time I had available.

If you read Bob Carroll's great blog, you'll note he went to check out a Bananaquit, Western Spindalis, and a LaSagra's Flycatcher.  Well, I headed out to those spots a few times, and was only able to spot the LaSagra's (still a great day when you get to see one!).  The Bananaquit evaded, eluded, and frustrated me.  As for the Spindalis, I think I saw every other bird in the area except for it.  But that's how it goes with birding.  Sometimes you hit and others you dip.

The last time I saw the LaSagra's was a great day.  Not only did I get the longest looks at it so far, on the drive in I was able to see the mysterious Great Black Hawk of Virginia Key, whose provenance is the subject of much debate.  Check out the link to a fascinating report on the much discussed history of the bird (http://www.tropicalaudubon.org/RD_black_hawk.html). I was also able to spot a couple of Short-tailed hawks soaring overhead, and was even able to watch one hovering, nearly motionless while searching for some prey for about two minutes.  A fascinating experience, and one of my personal highlights of the month.

To be truthful, it seemed there was no shortage of Short-tailed hawks present throughout Miami-Dade county. By the end of the month it seemed there was at least one dark morph in every Turkey/Black vulture flock.  Seeing them so often has certainly increased my knowledge on their field markings and made it much quicker to discern one in a large group of vultures.

I was fortunate to be able to take two short excursions down to the Keys in search of some lingering, over-wintering birds or Caribbean vagrants.  The first trip sent me down to Long Key State Park to search for the Swainson's warbler which had been reported there.  Just a few minutes into my hike I came upon a spot which just smacked of being a place warblers would love to hang out and catch insects.  My hunch was correct, as I heard and then quickly spotted a male Prairie warbler catching some insects.  Then I heard a call come from behind me, which I was now familiar with having listened to it repeatedly for the previous day or so, and then it flew directly overhead joining the Prairie warbler in the insect buffet...it was the Swainson's warbler.  It was probably the longest looks I may ever get of the species.  It was nearly eye-level and foraging for caterpillars for a few minutes.  I was the only person around and not even daring to breathe so as not to spook it off.  Already thrilled, I just kept going and it kept getting better.  I ended up spotting 11 different warbler species at the park including Swainson's, Prairie, Northern Parula, Ovenbird, Black and White, Yellow-throated, Northern waterthrush, Palm, Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned, and Black-throated Green.  I consider 11 different warblers a great day during fall migration in Alachua County.  But 11 different ones during winter?  Does it get much better?  Apparently it does.

While I was sitting down enjoying lunch (oh did I mention I didn't start birding until 10:45, which makes seeing all those warblers so late in the morning even more remarkable to me), I saw a sharp-shinned hawk chase after a mockingbird.  But when I turned back around to face the Gulf Stream current, I noticed two ducks floating on by.  They were not long enough to be red-breasted mergansers.  Their bills weren't thin, they didn't forage in the typical fashion, and they lacked the typical "messed up feather-do" the species typically displays.  As I got a clearer look, I could see their plumage was all black, and with their profile and facial coloration, I realized I was looking at a pair of female black scooters!  What a treat to see while sitting down to eat lunch.

Another Keys excursion kept me around Largo, checking out John Pennekamp and Dagny Johnson parks.  I was going in search of a White-crowned pigeon so I figured I had a decent shot at either park, as both contain the tropical hardwood hammock habitats preferred by the species.  I dipped at Pennekamp, but was treated to a dark morph short-tailed hawk.  At Dagny Johnson it was fairly quiet, being mid-afternoon.  However, right as I was about to leave, a White-crowned flew directly overhead, it's white crown conspicuous.  Satisfied, I headed back to Florida City via Card Sound road, and stopped at a mangrove swamp before the bridge and was able to see Wood stork, Roseate spoonbill, several different herons and egrets, and a dark morph Reddish egret.  I had to take a second look at the reddish, because I thought there may be some partial leucism directly behind the bill.  However, it turned out to be salt deposits left by its fishing pursuits.  I had looked around and noticed vast amounts (a little more than expected) of salt deposits left on the surrounding mangroves, and surmised as much. 

In my pursuits, I was also fortunate to run across some interesting areas most people probably do not check out.  I was rewarded with excellent amounts of wading and shore birds, gulls, and terns.  I was able to observe the largest concentration of Lesser black-backed gulls I have ever been privy to see.  American white pelicans, Roseate spoonbills, Reddish egrets, Black-bellied plovers, Wilson's plovers, and many other species were prolific in these areas to boot.  In all it was a tiring month work-wise, and the small amount of time I was able to escape and bird was the only thing which made the month tolerable.  When you get to see species such as I did at this time of year, it's always a treat.