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I visited Everglades National Park on Sunday and Monday with a detour
on Saturday to Boot Key to try for the Thick-billed Vireo and stops
north of the park and on the way to Flamingo on Monday. Some of the
more interesting birds seen included Lark Sparrow, Black-whiskered
Vireo, dark and light morph Short-tailed Hawks, Vermilion Flycatcher,
Great Horned Owl, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrows, Blue
Grosbeaks, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Snail Kite, and a rather late Least
Tern.
Except for a Peregrine over the Long Key Bridge my early morning drive
down to the keys was uneventful. Upon my arrival Sunday morning
(10/24) at the Thick-billed Vireo site on Boot Key there were already four
birders standing watch near pole sixteen which seemed to be enough so I
decided to check the roadside back towards the bridge where the vireo
had first been seen. It didn’t take long to spot a Lark Sparrow among a
small flock of Indigo Buntings and call the others over to see it. The
Thick-billed Vireo was never seen but there were a few warblers, an
immature Yellow-crowned Night Heron and an immature White-crowned
Pigeon along the roadside. A Dark Morph Short-tailed Hawk, a Merlin
and a few Broad-winged Hawks passed over the area but these seemed
to be moving randomly rather than migrating that morning. On my way
back north my first stop was at Long Key State Park to walk the Nature
Trail, highlights of this stop were two Merlins perched on a snag near
the southeast corner of the trail and a nice little assortment of warblers,
but nothing unusual. A check along the beach towards the campground
produced a Reddish Egret and a Roseate Spoonbill. At the D. J. Key
Largo Hammock Botanical State Park a hike along the trail turned up my
first Black-whiskered Vireo in several weeks and a few warblers along
with another Dark Morph Short-tailed Hawk soaring overhead. On my
way from Florida City to Everglades National Park I stopped at C-111
bridge on SR 9336 where the returning adult male Vermilion Flycatcher
was hunting from the fence near the water control structure and the large
fig tree across the canal. I set up camp at Long Pine Key Campground
late in the afternoon where a Great Horned Owl worked the tree line to
the south of my camp a little after sunset
On Monday morning (10/25) I went to Lucky Hammock, not much of
interest was in the hammock itself besides a Magnolia Warbler, a few
Painted Buntings, and a silent Empidonax, but things were a bit more
interesting along the back side of the brushy area across the road. A
walk north along the east edge produced a Lincoln’s Sparrow, two
Grasshopper Sparrows, a Savannah Sparrow, and two Blue Grosbeaks.
A total of eleven Painted Buntings and eight Indigo Buntings were seen
on both sides of the road. A stop at the “annex” to the south turned up
a Least Flycatcher along the canal bank.
A Light Morph Short-tailed Hawk was soaring over the parking lot when
I arrived at Royal Palm Hammock. There wasn’t much songbird activity
around the parking lot or the trails but along the Ingraham Highway Trail
I found a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Black-throated Green Warbler.
Songbird activity was also slow at Mahogany Hammock but there was a
Snail Kite flying with a snail on the north side of the spur road. A nice
little warbler flock was near the end of the Mangrove Trail at West Lake
that had a Worm-eating Warbler and another Magnolia Warbler along
with the usual early winter mix. There wasn’t much along the first few
hundred yards of Snake Bight Road besides a Northern Waterthrush, a
few White-crowned Pigeons, and way to many mosquitoes for comfort.
At Eco Pond a rather late Least Tern circled the pond a few times and
made a couple of dives. At the time I assumed from it’s dark bill that it
was an immature bird but I learned later that by now adults should also
have dark bills. I am certain that this was a Least Tern because of it’s
small size, short tail, dark forward part of the primary area of it’s wings
along with it’s rapid wingbeats, especially when hovering, as well as it’s
hunting style.
Water levels were high all over the park and except for a concentration of
waders southwest of the Buttonwood Canal Bridge waders were pretty
well dispersed. Mosquitoes were bad around Lucky Hammock and the
Long Pine Key area and very bad around Flamingo. I checked to first
part of the Coastal Prairie Trail to see if it was still clear after the summer,
it was but the sparrow fields north of the trail were flooded. I didn’t
check but I would assume that the Christian Point Trail is also flooded.
There were a few large branches down along the north end of Snake
Bight Road but nothing to bad, I didn’t have time to walk the whole road.
Bear Lake Road is closed to motor vehicles and probably will be until at
least some time in December.
Bryant Roberts
Davie, Fl
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