Today was an 11-hour day with a morning spent birding several areas around the Everglades NP Coe Visitor Center and then, in the afternoon, meandering down the additional 38 miles to Flamingo, the southern-most point in the Everglades. In the process, we learned plenty from the friendly members of the Florida Tropical Audubon Society, and Sooney ID’d 57 birds (xx of them first timers).
Sightings for Feb. 11
Audubon Guided bird walk in South Dade (county) with John Boyd and Brian Rapoza (author of Birding Florida), gathering at the Everglades National Park Ernest Coe visitors center:
Gray Catbird, American Crows, European Starlings, <Prairie Warbler>, <Northern Parula>, Cardinal, (sadly Sooney learned first-hand about fire ants)
In the Homestead area (“Lucky” Hammock, Airport, Castello Hammock):
Savannah Sparrow, American Kestrel, <Scissor-tailed Flycatcher>, Red-winged Blackbirds, <Palm Warbler>, Rose-breasted Grosbeak (f), Mockingbird, <Eastern Phoebe>, <Great Crested Flycatcher>, <Brown Crested Flycatcher>, <Painted Buntings> (2 m & f), Common Yellowthroat, Yellow-breasted Chat, Blue Jay, <Brown Thrasher>, Red-shouldered Hawk (3), <Short-tailed Hawk> (3) (light and dark morphs), Cedar Waxwing (30), Vermillion Flycatchers (2), Tree Swallows (1,000+), <Black Vultures>, <Cattle Egret>, <Loggerhead Shrike> (2), Northern Harriers (m&f), Swainson’s Hawk, Burrowing Owls, <Eastern Meadowlark>, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (1m & 1f), Purple Martin
Everglades National Park (Coe Entrance) Anhinga Trail:
Anhingas! White Ibises, Tricolored Herons (3), <Wood Stork> (3), Little Blue Herons (3), Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, Pied-billed Grebes, Common Moorhens, Green Herons (2), American Coots,
Florida soft-shelled Turtles and Red-bellied Turtles, American Alligators!
Everglades National Park (Mrazek Pond along road to Flamingo):
Green-winged Teals, Blue-winged Teals, <Roseate Spoonbill>, American White Pelicans (2), Brown Pelicans (1), Belted Kingfisher, Northern Shovelers, Common Grackles
Eco Pond:
Bald Eagle, Osprey, Black-necked Stilts (3), Wood Storks (4)
First time sightings: 16