November 23, 2004
Dip-idee-doo-da
This past Saturday, Nov 20th I woke up with my alarm clock blaring at 1:13 AM. The Finch was nestled all snug in my bed, while visions of sugar-plums danced in my head...or maybe they were fig newtons? Anyways, I was able to shake-off any thoughts of fruit as thoughts of Greater Flamingos and Brown-crested Flycatchers soon took over as recent sightings had occurred for both of these species at the Everglades National Park within the past two weeks.
The idea of scoring either of these two possible life birds made the 4.5 hour drive a little easier, but it was still a tiring drive. I arrived near the entrance to the Everglades around sunrise where I was neither bright-eyed nor bushy-tailed. But my senses were revitalized by viewing the Vermilion Flycatcher that is once again wintering at the canal near the park. Lots of birds were calling, including a gang of Gray Catbirds and House Wrens, but not the hoped for Brown-crested Fly.
I next drove a bit down the road to check out Lucky Hammock, the local that hosted the sweet Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher just two weeks before. That bird had unfortunately moved on, but I was still able to get some nice birds such as Painted Buntings (both stunning males and the aesthically upstaged females), a Summer Tanager, a Brown Thrasher (world-class view) and a Grasshopper Sparrow (the Florida subspecies which is quite different looking that the Grasshoppers I used to watch up in Minnesota...the FL birds had very white stomachs...very much unlike the overall buffy look of the northern birds).
I finally got into the main park and was lucky enough to find a Limpkin hunting for Apple Snails about 5 feet from the road! I was able to pull my car practically right next to the bird and started taking pictures...
The Limpkin played it up for the camera a bit and continued to pull up apple snails left and right (well, mostly down actually, from the water)...and then proceed to bring it up to the shoreline to eat.
After my close encounter of the Limpkin-kind, I had about an hour left of BCFL searching before the birds started to quiet down for the day. I took a spin on Research Road, probably the best spot in the park to get lucky and spy the endangered Florida Panther, but I wasn't that lucky. I did see plenty of its favorite food, White-tailed Deer, including a nice buck. There had been a Brown-crested Flycatcher sighting along the road a week prior, but I of course dipped. I did have the oppurtunity to watch my first Swamp Sparrow of the year as well as a noisy flock of Pine Warblers.
I did a quick check of Anhinga Trail where, lo and behold, I saw an Anhinga (well, actually 7 of them),
a hunting Green Heron,
and some menacing looking Turkey Vultures...including this one engaging in Tai Chi?
Fun in Flamingo
I decided to zoom down to the town of Flamingo at the southern end of the park to try my luck at scoring some Greater Flamingos. The destination of choice was Snake Bight Trail but there was no way I was going to walk it and get devoured by mosquitos. So, I ended up renting a "Classic Cruiser" bicycle and pedaled the 2 mile trail through overgrown Mangroves and Hardwood Hammocks to the boardwalk at Snake Bight.
(you can probably see the silhouette of a Reddish Egret just off the boardwalk)
I eagerly scanned the mudflat hoping for a large pink bird. The tide was fairly high, which pushes in the birds and a group of 28 Greater Flamingos were seen about a week and a half earlier from the very spot I was scanning, so my hopes of getting these birds were higher than a giraffe's ass.
But, as the title Dip-idee-doo-da would suggest, it was not to be. Most of the birds were distant, as in hundreds of American White Pelicans and the assorted waders and shorebirds, but no flamingos in sight. I did get excited once as a pink bird flew by, but it turned out to be a Roseate Spoonbill (and also probably the first time I was dissapointed to see one!). I did get quite a thrill as a Peregrine Falcon swooped a group of Western Sandpipers from just off the end of the boardwalk...not just once but twice! It seemed as though the bird broke the sound barrier as it had very audible dives in its failed attempts at a meal.
I ended the day exploring the area around Flamingo and turned up some good birds such as Short-tailed Hawk (a dark morph soaring above the Flamingo marina with a group of Turkey and Black Vultures, two Wood Storks, Ospreys, and two American White Pelicans) and some White-crowned Pigeons (flushed from the tree tops at two different spots).
I finally capped off the trip with one last attempt at Florida Panther on Research Road, where I got my lifer Scarlet Kingsnake crossing the road at dusk.