Florida trip report header

Itinerary - Leg 2: The Keys including Dry Tortugas

 

Friday 19th April

We headed to the Keys today, starting at Card Sound Bridge where I hoped to see Cuban Yellow Warblers. No luck, though it wasn't a nice place to bird so I didn't give them long. On to Key Largo where I birded a few places from the roadside. Black-whiskered Vireos were heard singing but remained stubbornly invisible - at least they were singing which is more than can be said for the Mangrove Cuckoos.

Moving down the keys we stopped at a few sites, but didn't really meet with much success anywhere. The highlights were Reddish Egrets, Wilson's Plovers, White-crowned Pigeons, Gray Kingbirds and Prairie Warblers but the day ended without me seeing a single new bird. At Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden I met Helen who would be one of the birders joining me on the trip to Dry Tortugas, but we couldn't find the Western Spindalis that had taken up residence in the gardens. After checking in at the Paradise Inn in Key West where Vitty would be spending the next few nights, we headed off to the MV Playmate, the boat where I would be spending the next few nights on a tour of Dry Tortugas with Larry Manfredi. After meeting everyone and being shown round the boat we all headed off to the nearby Roostica for our evening meal. I took Vitty back to the Paradise Inn and then returned to the boat.


View Florida Day 6 in a larger map

 

Saturday 20th April

The MV Playmate left dock well before dawn and by the time we emerged from bed we were well out to sea. As Larry says, the boat is a hotel not a speed boat, so it takes a good amount of time to get to Dry Tortugas - and that gives us plenty of opportunity for seabirding! On the way the first bird I saw was a Northern Gannet, shortly followed by my first (and the first of 3) Audubon's Shearwater. Further on more birds appeared including my first Brown Boobies, Brown Noddies and some Sooty Terns and Magnificent Frigatebirds. I picked up what looked like it might be a bird or two on driftwood in the distance and immediately suspected Bridled Tern. As we got closer it indeed proved to be the first 2 of several Bridled Terns - and they let us steam right up to them. Passerine migrants from the boat mostly consisted of Swallows (mainly Barn, 1 Cliff) but a smart Blackpoll Warbler landed on the boat (on one of the group's knees in fact). After scooting around the deck a bit it went into the cabin and found shelter behind the dashboard. A pod of Atlantic Spotted Dolphins riding the bow provided some excitement too, and other marine life included probable Loggerhead Turtle and several Portuguese Man-o'-wars.

As we approached Dry Tortugas the first place to look from boat was Hospital Key, so named as it was where they sent the prisoners occupying Fort Jefferson when they came down with Yellow Fever. Now it's little more than a sand bar but it hosts North America's only colony of breeding Masked Boobies.

click for larger image

click for larger image

Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas, complete with cloud of Sooty Terns

Finally we docked at Garden Key most of which is taken up by the enormous but never quite finished Fort Jefferson. The largest masonry structure in the Americas was too heavy for the island and construction had to be stopped before it was complete. Now the grounds within the fort walls with their scattered trees are host to a fantastic array of migrant birds and this was what I was most looking forward to on this trip.

We entered the fort and there in front of us were a few trees containing goodies like Hooded Warblers, Ovenbirds, Swainson's Thrush, Summer Tanagers, Wood Thrush, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Waterthrush. Everywhere I looked there were more birds, several of them completely new to me - and by this time I'd only been there 5 minutes and barely moved. A few steps further and more trees were visible, one of which contained 3 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, some Indigo Buntings, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Scarlet Tanagers - while American Redstarts and more Hooded Warblers, Black-throated Blue, Palm and Prairie Warblers appeared in the trees where we were standing.

We started walking aound, making slow progress as there were things like Yellow-billed Cuckoos, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Warblers and Northern Parulas to look at, as well as more of the same. The next corner added Orchard Orioles and as we walked along the far side a Common Nighthawk sat on one of the girders while a fantastic Yellow-throated Warbler flitted around the wall. Further on Eastern Wood-Pewee and Baltimore Orioles were added, while more of the same including a nice flock of dazzling blue Indigo Buntings. All the while American Kestrel, Merlins and Peregrines were enjoying the birds as much as we were. Back near the entrance Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrushes were found and I eventually got good views of the Red-eyed and Black-whiskered Vireos others had already seen. Outside the fort a small patch of shrubbery contained a Chuck-will's-widow and another Wood Thrush.

Apparently this wasn't a particularly good day for here, but I went to bed on the boat a happy chappy!


View Florida Day 7 in a larger map

 

Sunday 21st April

After overnight winds the sea was apparently too choppy for the dingy to take us out to Loggerhead Key where we hoped to find West Indian Short-eared Owl, so we would spend most of the day on Garden Key. Well that was no bad thing if it was half as good as yesterday. And it was half as good as yesterday! Lots of birds had departed, but there was still more than enough to keep us entertained, plus a few new arrivals too.

click for larger image

Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas

Among the new arrivals were 2 Blue-winged Warblers, Tennessee Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Painted Bunting. One that had apparently arrived yesterday but none of us had seen was Kentucky Warbler, but eventually I got good views of it today. Also new were Green Heron and White Ibis - apparently the latter is scarce out here. Some good birds there, and lots of yesterday's birds were still around too so it was another good day indeed.

At tea time we were taken in small groups out in the dingy to get close to the Magnificent Frigatebird colony. Really enjoyed seeing these amazing birds, with several males puffing out their bright red pouches. From the dingy I spotted two birds I'd hoped to see on this trip (not necessarily here): a Great White Heron and a hybrid/intermediate form, Würdemann's Heron. The dingy also brought us close to Sooty Terns (of which there are hundreds here) and Brown Noddies.

Another good day with good company and good birds (and good food - Jen's a fabulous cook!).

click for larger image

Home for 3 nights: MV Playmate docked at Garden Key, Dry Tortugas


View Florida Day 8 in a larger map

 

Monday 22nd April

To get back to Key West in time we had to leave Dry Tortugas fairly early which meant we had less than an hour to look round the fort. We saw mainly the same birds but even in that short time we found a few new ones, including Gray Kingbird and Worm-eating Warbler. Also Sharp-shinned Hawk was one I'd not seen the day before, though I think others had.

The journey back was relatively uneventful, though I suspect that had a lot to do with a relative lack of effort compared to the journey out. A couple of Dolphins were probably Bottle-nosed and a Hammerhead Shark was unusual for some of us. A mid-ocean American Coot flying by was probably the most unexpected sighting.

click for larger image

goodbye Fort Jefferson

When I got back Vitty was out snorkelling and her boat wasn't due in for an hour or two, so I had a little time to kill. I spent a bit of it at Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden where I hoped to find the Western Spindalis, but I had little time there as they close so early - 2 Gray Catbirds and 2 Purple Martins were the highlights. I then had a quick whiz round Key West taking in a few birds as I went, including the famous Key West chickens! This feral population is either loved or hated by residents, but apparently isn't quite considered to be fully naturalised, so I won't be adding Red Jungle Fowl to my list just yet.

I had planned to spend dusk at Key West airport looking for Antillean Nighthawks, but Vitty was keen to watch the sunset as it's supposed to be impressive from here - she had tried the previous evening but it had been cloudy. I conceded, on the basis that we could always head back down to Marathon Airport at the end of our trip by which time the chances of them having arrived would be greater anyway (although in the end we didn't bother). The street entertainment in Mallony Square was entertaining enough, though not as high quality as I'd imagined. The sunset was, well, like a sunset normally is, and the mojitos were excellent - for some reason my attempts at making these have never really worked so it was good to have one as they're meant to be! We ended the evening with a good, if not good enough for the price, meal at the Seven Fish restaurant, just around the corner from the Paradise Inn.


View Florida Day 9 in a larger map

 

Tuesday 23rd April

I spent the early morning checking a couple of sites in the lower keys where Mangrove Cuckoos are supposed to occur, with the same lack of success as at other sites - not even a sniff. A few nice birds like 10 White-crowned Pigeons but nothing really unusual.

After returning to collect Vitty and check out we headed of to Fort Zachary. I got out of the car and within the next few steps had amassed several species of warbler. Not as good as Dry Tortugas but a promising start! Then I met a birder who'd hardly seen anything and supposed I'd just chanced upon a good patch, but as I continued there were birds all over. Really enjoyed the next hour or so seeing a good variety of migrants, the best of which were 2 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (thanks to the guy who told me about them).

After picking up a yummy Cuban sandwich from Sandy's Cafe we headed back up the keys, stopping at a few sites. Bahia Honda State Park had loads of shorebirds although looking south in the middle of the day wasn't ideal, and I'd barely started looking through them when some park official turned up and insisted I used one of the car parks, even though I was parked completely off the road and out of the way. Unfortuately the car parks were miles from the bit of shoreline that had the birds and it was so hot I couldn't face the trek back. So that was a waste of however many dollars they charged me to get in! There were hardly any passerine migrants around the trails here either.

Lake Edna was much better than it had been on the way down, with a much better variety and number of shorebirds (including my first Semipalmated Sandpipers of the trip) and herons. A ringrtail Northern Harrier flew threw and a fruiting tree in an adjacent garden (or should that be yard) was full of some typically stunning migrant passerines.

We stopped at the Hungry Tarpon for an early evening meal where a Great Egret wandered between the tables and customers and a Common Myna dropped in briefly. We returned to the Travelodge in Florida City with a view to returning to the Everglades in the morning.


View Florida Day 10 in a larger map

 

Click here to carry on to Leg 3 of the Itinerary...

Or here to jump to details of all the birds and animals seen, illustrated with photos of many of the species.