Itinerary - Leg 3: The Everglades and the East
Wednesday 24th April
Having missed them last time we visited the Everglades, priority today was seeing the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrows. We rolled up there early, though not quite as early as intended, and after a little while I located a couple of singing birds. They weren't exactly close and I was looking into the sun, but it was just good enough.
We continued on pausing at the same sites as before and mostly seeing the same sort of birds. I wanted to walk Snake Bight Trail as it was another spot where Mangrove Cuckoo is sometimes reported and I wasn't quite sure if there was still a chance of seeing Caribbean Flamingo from the end of the trail, although the lack of recent reports made me suspect not. It really is the most horribly insect-infested hole in the world and despite covering every exposed piece of skin with roll-on insect-repellant and liberally spraying all my clothes and hair with spray-on insect-repellant I reckon the ravenous little beasts had consumed about 90% of my blood by the time I got back to the car (no, I know they don't really drink blood, but it felt like it). My back was particularly badly affected as it had been on my previous much shorter stop here, and I was in a right state by the time they'd finished munching me. For some reason they barely touched Vitty who bravely accompanied me, and who is usually far more attractive to biting insects than I am. If I hadn't been in such discomfort I expect I'd have seen lots of birds, but even so several species of warbler made themselves known to me and there were plenty of shorebirds and wading birds viewable from the end, albeit mostly very distant as the tide was out. To give an idea of the difficulty in observing birds out here at low tide, it took me quite a while to work out that a flock of about 80 American White Pelicans were indeed pelicans as their bodies disappeared into a mirage and their shimmering heads seemed oddly narrow - until they took flight I wasn't convinced they weren't egrets!
As uncomfortable as the bites were at the time, the pain eased pretty quick with a generous smothering of anti-histamine (before Vitty read the instruction that said not to apply to large areas of skin), so we continued on. There wasn't a great deal of excitement compared with our previous visit, although despite a much smaller cowbird flock there were now 3 Shiny Cowbirds among them (but no sign of the Bronzed Cowbird that someone had reported nearby recently).
I saw very little at Mahogany Hammock, which was especially disappointing considering that a couple who went there shortly after us saw a nice flock of warblers including Magnolia Warbler which I never managed to see on this trip. We left the park a bit later than I had intended, but still with enough time to get over to Bill Baggs, not just because I understood the Thick-billed Vireo to still be present but because it's a great place for seeing migrant birds generally. I concentrated on the areas where the vireo had been seen but didn't find it, however there were loads of birds on view including some really showy and photogenic warblers (especially Cape May Warblers) as well as both Indigo and Painted Buntings. A really enjoyable evening even without the rarities.
Vitty wanted to look round Miami Beach so we headed up there while there was still an ounce or two of twilight left. Can't say the architecture did much for me, but Vitty was happy enough. We ate at a Cuban restaurant where the cutlery was nearly as dirty as the toilets (which were pretty bad) and the service and the food was not much more impressive. Eating in America seems a very hit and miss affair and this was definitely one of our misses! The reviews don't seem to be as helpful as we'd have hoped either - some really ropey places had received good reviews. We booked into the Holiday Inn Express at Pemboke Pines for the night.
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Thursday 25th April
Since arriving in Florida I'd read a report of some good birding along Snake Road, a site I'd not researched prior to coming out. Among the species seen were a couple I was after, so I decided to head up here this morning. The road up produced one of them, Crested Caracara, a species I'd only seen previously in California where I found a vagrant, though at the time I imagined it was an escapee. Further up the road a couple of tracks went off either side and these both provided some excellent birding. The one heading north produced 5 Limpkins and lots of other species, while the one to the south, and particularly another track running west from this track, provided Wild Turkeys among other things. A very pleasant morning's exploration - it didn't provide me with Northern Bobwhite, the one I was most hoping for, but it did deliver a thoroughly enjoyable morning's birding.
A quick stop at Markham Park turned up my only Bobolink of the trip, but I couldn't find the trails mentioned in the guides. I think the construction work going on was possibly blocking access over the canal. Someone had mentioned a showy Great Horned Owl at Tall Cypress and the books said it was also a site for Eastern Screech Owl, so I popped in there next. No sign of any owls, but I enjoyed the walk round anyway.
Next I visited Green Cay. Despite one or two trip reports dismissing this place as over-run with non-birders and a bit like a zoo (or something like that) I found it an absolutely amazing place! Sure there were lots of people on the boardwalk who seemed to have little interest in birds, and those that did seemed intent on telling me how rubbish it was with nothing to see, but there were birds everywhere, and good ones at that! Among the Mottled Ducks and Blue-winged Teal was a lone Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (my first), the many wading birds included Least Bittern, Roseate Spoonbill and some magnificently close Glossy Ibises. There was Purple Gallinule, Limpkin, 5 species of shorebird, White-winged Doves, Painted Buntings, nesting Purple Martins and a flock of Cedar Waxwings flying over. I felt like telling the people who told me there was nothing to see to try opening their eyes!
smurking lion at Green Cay - some guy was very excited at having found this pattern in one of the wooden slats on the boardwalk!
Nearby Wakodahatchee was pretty much as I expected Green Cay to be, like a zoo and not a place I much enjoyed birding at. Sure it was great if you like staring down the gullet of breeding herons at point blank range while wondering how all the photographers are managing to use their big lenses when the birds are practically standing on them, but it wasn't my sort of birding. There were a few good birds though - more Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks for example.
With the day drawing to a close I decided to stop off at Tall Cypress again to see if dusk would turn out to be better for the owls. It wasn't so we returned to the Holiday Inn Express at Pembroke Pines. That wasn't a good choice as it was much further than it could have been from where we finished today and from where we were to start in the morning, but when we booked it the night before we were so tired it seemed the easy option to stay where we were a second night rather than finding somewhere else and having to pack our luggage up again. We ate at a Thai restaurant not far from Tall Cypress - Chow Thai at Sandalfoot Plaza Drive in Boca Raton, one of the better meals we had in Florida.
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Friday 26th April
I'd planned to start today at Loxahatchee even before I discovered that a male Western Spindalis had been discovered there the previous afternoon, but news of that made it all the more appealing. We left the Holiday Inn Express when it was already light enough to see a flock of Cedar Waxwings fly over so arrived there a little later than planned, but Northern Parulas and Cape May Warbler were immediately evident in the car park. Having misunderstood the directions I spent a bit of time looking for the Spindalis in the wrong place (seeing Common Yellowthroat) before trying the only trail that was obvious from the car park. That proved to be a boardwalk which, though pleasant enough, wasn't what I was expecting from this site. Another track out of the car park led to where other people were looking for the Western Spindalis, but it was not seen today. One of the birders pointed out an Eastern Screech Owl peering down at us from a hole in a telegrah pole just in front of where we were standing, for which I am hugely grateful - that was a bird high on my wish-list! I was advised that the marsh trail wasn't likely to be vastly productive but when I ran through some birds I was missing I was advised that there might still be some Swamp Sparrows up by the river. I headed up there, walked the bank as advised and flushed several sparrows as I went. The problem was they all dived back in quickly and didn't show, so while I suspected they were the Swamps I couldn't get enough on them to be certain. Eventually one did sit out briefly, so I could be sure of at least 1 Swamp Sparrow. In the meantime I flushed a much smaller dumpier short-tailed sparrow. I saw exactly where it went down but looking down on the spot I couldn't see anything. After a while I noticed it sitting tight with just a bit of its well-patterned back and the top of its head showing, with seemingly very little neck between them. Almost as soon as I noticed it here it flew off again, this time disappearing over the river. I'd seen enough though, I think, to confirm it as a Grasshopper Sparrow - an unexpected bonus! A good variety of water birds were seen from the river too, making this a really enjoyable morning even without the Spindalis.
I was thinking of heading up to Jupiter and Hobe Sound next to look for Florida Scrub-Jay and the same guy who told me about the owl and the sparrows gave me directions to a good spot for Florida Scrub-Jay at Jupiter. He also advised that the nearby John Dickinson state park holds Northern Bob-white and Bachmann's Sparrows, two other species I was missing. Unfortunately when I got to Jupiter I couldn't find the Jays despite spending quite a bit of time at the area I think he directed me to (maybe I didn't remember the details correctly?).
I decided to head up to Hobe Sound where I was advised that the Jays are no longer regular but the guy told me there are some at Jonathan Dickinson State Park and possibly at another nearby site. We tried the latter site first and then Jonathan Dickinson, but sadly this was a complete failure with not a great deal else to compensate. The highlight was a pair of Sandhill Cranes, one of which was doing its dancing courtship display and bugling - about 2 feet from the car. As I watched it from within the car it approached even closer until it was practically inside the car with me - I had to move my head back to avoid getting my eyes poked out as it moved its head and bill about eratically right by the open window! They were right next to a very busy campsite and their tameness hadn't done them any favours - I suspect it was no coincidence that both birds were limping and one seemed to have no feet at all.
We stayed at the Jupiter Waterfront Inn nearby, recommended by the rangers at Jonathan Dickinson and very nice. We headed down to the Bistro at the Driftwood Plaza for our evening meal which was one of the nicer meals we had in Florida, though in England we would expect much better for that sort of money - it wasn't cheap!
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Saturday 27th April
Annoyingly Jonathan Dickinson doesn't open until 8.00 am which was far too late for us. The birds we wanted to see would be easiest around dawn and in any case we wanted to be heading south by that time. We checked the other sites for Florida Scrub-Jay anyway, still with no success, before heading down to Wakodahatchee. After my previous comments about this place compared to Green Cay you might wonder why, but in my dismay at the zoo-like nature of the site I had clean forgotten the main reason for visiting - to look for the Neotropic Cormorant(s) and hybrids that have been in residence there. Perhaps I would have noticed them anyway had they been around, but I kicked myself when I realised I hadn't specifically searched for them, so I had to return here instead of Green Cay which I might have enjoyed much more.
In actual fact it was much better than last time, with things like Purple Gallinules and Least Bitterns (including 2 well-grown chicks) showing really nicely, more Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and some brief fly-over Monk Parakeets. Moreover a thorough search through the Cormorants revealed one that seemed to be a pure Neotropic Cormorant and 4 more with mixed characteristics, presumably hybrids.
I decided to spend the rest of the time we had before heading to the airport looking for exotics, something that Miami and the surrounding district is famous for. Many of them are sufficiently established to be considered countable, even though many birders turn their noses up at them! First stop was Kendall where a good deal of cruising around various neighbourhoods eventually turned up a few Mitred Parakeets and a Red-whiskered Bulbul. Mattheson Hammock provided a massive hawkmoth, which I later identified as Fig Sphinx, but the only exotics flew over calling while I was beneath trees and unable to see them. From the call I think they were Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, but they don't count if I don't see them! A quick look round the Miami Springs area north of the airport didn't turn anything up and then it was time to go.
I slept for most of the flight home, something I can't usually do and a sign of how tired I was after birding long days in the southern Florida heat. In fact the journey home was fairly uneventful, bar for the Raddison at Heathrow failing to deliver my car to the airport terminal as promised. They did at least put on a taxi and refund the amount I paid for this service, but I could have done without the hour's messing around.
It had been a fantastic two weeks. I've described some good times and some disappointments, so you might think it was a bit mixed, but in truth the good far outweighed the bad. I didn't see everything I wanted to see but nor did I expect to - you never do when you visit a completely new place like this and you have a long list of targets. I did see some extraordinary birds and other wildlife including many things that I'd wished to see for years. It was an awesome holiday and if I could do it again next year I'd happily do so.
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Click here to go to details of all the birds and animals seen, illustrated with photos of many of the species.
