I spent the last week in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. The trip was with my wife and two boys and was for generic leisure and birding was not the main priority. Even still I made great efforts to visit a few natural areas over the week and get some birdwatching and butterfly watching in. In almost an underwhelming fashion, I was able to pick up one life bird and one life butterfly.
Target birds that were possible but not likely- Mangrove cuckoo(migrates in late march) Western spindalis La Sagra's flycatcher Thick billed vireo Black wiskered vireo Local parakeets Least tern (migrates in late march) Short tailed hawk
My efforts to birdwatch was to look at some hotspots in ebird and focus on some of the top locations.
Bill Baggs Park -Key Biscayne (link) Prairie Warbler Chuck wills Widow Common warblers Little blue Heron Sanderling Magnificent frigatebird Queen butterfly Julia butterfly
Chuck Wills Widow ! (seen flycatching in leaf litter in mid-morning, then perched)
Anne Kolbe reserve - Hollywood Fl (link) Yellow throated warbler Yellow rumped warbler Palm warbler Black and white warbler American redstart Northern Parula *Mangrove tree crab
MATHESON HAMMOCK PARK (link) Yellow throated Vireo Red shouldered hawk Red headed woodpecker Yellow rumped warbler Palm warbler Red shouldered hawk Magrove skipper (worn - but life butterfly) Zebra longwing butterfly
Mangrove Skipper (worn) - Life Butterfly (#164)
Random neighborhood baseball diamond -Loggerhead shrike -Prairie Warbler
Hal Scott Preserve (link) (closer to Orlando --- Red cockaded woodpeckers are here but i did not see them on this brief visit. ) Eastern bluebird Brown headed nutchatch Blue grey gnatchcher Bachmans Sparrow (lifer! #471) Pine warbler
Bachman's Sparrow - Lifer. Most certainly soon to be renamed
I guess this trip has reminded me that even if ebird shows that a bird may be present in a location.... 90% of the days you might only see the (at best) 90 percentile birds. An area that seems promising can be a let-down and seemingly devoid of birdlife, but another area that seems to not be of great significance could have surprisingly good birds. Sometimes we have to remember that the best part of travelling is the journey, not the destination itself.
Good Birding,
Dwayne
Last Few Life Birds:
Black crested Titmouse (TX) 466
Snowy Plover (TX) 467
Neotropical Cormorant (TX) 468
White tailed Kite (TX) 469
Least Grebe (TX) 470
Bachmans Sparrow (FL) 471
Last few Life Butterflies:
162 - Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) - Caves San Antonio TX , yes [link]
163 - Henry's Elfin (Callophrys henrici) - Caves San Antonio TX , yes [link]
164- Mangrove Skipper (Phocides pigmalion) - Mattheson Park Area MIAMI FLORIDA, yes [link]
My first posting focused on Bunche Beach, but this second one covers some sightings from a few other Fort Myers birding hotspots such as Harnes Marsh, Babcock Webb WMA, Corkscrew Preserve, Little Estero Lagoon, and even a few observations from Lakes Park.
Little Estero Lagoon
I really wanted to see Wilsons and Snowy Plovers at Little Estero Lagoon, a small reminant of natural beach at the south end of Fort Myers Beach, but I had only found Wilson's (life bird). Piping Plovers and a host of other shorebirds were present as well. I even tried to find Snowy Plovers on Sanibel Island but dipped again. A Magnificent Frigatebird was a nice consolation prize though.
Magnificent Frigatebird
Harnes Marsh
I had two Kite Species at Harnes Marsh (Swallow tailed and Snail Kite), as well as some good butterfly viewing as well. This marsh is well known to host Apple Snails and attracts birds such as Limpkin and Snail Kites (they have a penchant for escargot). The Snail Kite was a life bird. Butterflies seen included: Queen, Great southern White, Little Yellow, Gulf Fritillary, Checked Skipper, Firey Skipper.
Snail Kite
Queen Butterfly
Swallow tailed Kite
Lakes Park
Lakes Park is a city park that features train rides, splash pad, botanical gardens and playgrounds for the kids. I had seen a Least Bittern last year, but this year, my highlights included Ceraunus Blue Butterfly, Loggerhead Shrike and nice looks at Gulf Fritillary butterfly. I must admit, seeing a fluttering blue-gold micro butterfly while eating a picnic and discovering this new Ceraunus Blue butterfly was just as gratifying as finding a new bird species. It is a beauty! I was thinking as I photographed this butterfly... How many tourists to Florida would make an effort to find the various butterflies it has to offer? How many people have the inclination, the interest, the optics to see this tiny little gem? ...You would have to be pretty nerdy! :-)
Ceraunus Blue
Loggerhead Shrike - Always a pleasure to see!
Gulf Fritillary
Babcock Webb WMA
Babcock Webb WMA [link] is a 65,000 acre nature preserve about 30 minutes north of Fort Myers. I wanted to see a few birds there: Bachmans Sparrow, Red Cockaded Woodpecker and Brown headed Nuthatch. I dipped on the Bachmans Sparrow, but did find a Brown Headed Nuthatch in the RCW colony! It was nice to spend time at Babcock Webb and just listen for a gentle tapping of the pine bark to find the RCWs. Brown headed Nuthatch is so small, you need to be patient and just listen for their nasal toy horn call. So gratifying to witness these endemic Southeastern species of the pine forest. I had tried to find Brown Headed Nuthatches on my previous two visits to Florida, and this is the first time I was able to find it! Brown headed Nuthatches are a species in decline from what I have read.
Brown Headed Nuthatch - Using a small piece of pine bark in its bill as a tool
Red Cockaded Woodpecker
Brown headed Nuthatch nest cavity in a snag!
White Peacock Butterfly
So there you have it! Some of my personal nature viewing highlights from my trip to Fort Myers. Six life birds include:
Western Sandpiper 339
Prairie Warbler 340
Long billed Curlew 341
Brown headed Nuthatch 342
Snail Kite 343
Wilson's Plover 344
Butterfly Lifers:
Great Southern White
Mangrove Buckeye
Ceraunus Blue
Queen Butterfly
I took a little mini-trip to Florida in the earlier part of this week. I must have seen between 75-100 bird species over the last three days (many were repetitive from last year's trip). Below is a lil' list of lifers and some misses. I've added a few select photos from some of the major parks I visited.
***Lifers
Painted Bunting
Magnificent Frigatebird
Florida Scrub Jay
Clapper Rail
Northern Bobwhite (no photo)
Common Ground Dove (no photo)(Lifer - #231)
***Misses (that I was really hoping to get):
Brown headed Nuthatch
Mangrove Cuckoo
Piping/Snowy/Wilsons Plover
Yellow crowned night heron
Limpkin
American Bittern (I just missed a viewing opportunity at corkscrew, it flushed just seconds before I arrived)...
RCW
Prarie Warbler
Pine Warbler
I guess I'm kinda disappointed in this trip. I had some bad luck along the way ... stupid things like my camera malfunctioning on the first day of the trip, mis-placing the GPS I brought from Windsor (only to find it later), and abruptly shortening my trip and slashing my original itinerary.
Sanibel Island & Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Great birding area. I could swear I saw a Black-whiskered Vireo at one point, but I'm not sure if it was just a red-eyed vireo. As I drove to Sanibel Island, Royal Terns and Osprey were very easily seen. This was a great park, but to my absolute dismay, my camera died soon after I entered the park. I did get to see a Magnificent Frigatebird overhead. I was actually looking up on occasion as I drove and I saw a huge bird with a forked tail... I pulled over and snapped a few photos as it circled overhead and then continued northward along the gulf coast.
Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area
This area is near Fort Myers and is a huge reserve, it was awesome to drive around. There were promises of Red Cockaded Woodpeckers (RCW), Brown headed Nuthatches and other great birds. The number of roads and paths to take was confusing/frustrating. I did get my second look at a Meadowlark... I still have not seen one in Ontario yet. I saw many Warblers, Eastern Bluebirds and typical Florida Passerines. I saw a Northern Bobwhite which I believe are almost placed there for the sake of hunting.
Some trees are marked as having artificial cavities for the RCW. At one point, I met some birders who saw one, but as I looked, I only saw it 'swoop' out of sight. I can't really lifer it in this case.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary (Naples FL)
A few 'wild' painted buntings were hanging out (and around) the feeders at Corkscrew Swamp Reserve. A female was hanging out as well. I saw tonnes of warblers and parulas on this trip but they were high in the trees and difficult to get great looks at through the foliage. I was informed an American Bittern was out near one lookout and it was flushed just as I approached the viewing platform... I still have not lifered this bird! Later though, I saw two separate Pileated Woodpeckers, one male, then later a female at very close range. I saw at least 4 separate Red-Shouldered Hawks crashing through branches catching lizards off branches. I would say this location is a must see, and is hands-down my favorite Florida birding experience. Even if you didn't see any birds, the habitat is absolutely breathtaking.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge
Merrit Island was absolutely incredible last year, but this year, ... it was a little bit of a disappointment. Many of the areas that were flooded last March were bone-dry this March. One nice catch from Merrit Island was the Clapper Rail below. I also found a pair of Florida Scrub Jays on the Scrub-Jay trail. Some cool turtles were seen along the Canaveral National Sea Shore.
Florida 'Scrub Habitat' is getting more and more rare. Its like SW Ontario's Oak Savannah habitat... Both are just so easily turned into sub-divisions or strip malls or Best Buy parking lots. I was pleasantly surprised to see this Scrub Jay on the Scrub Jay Path on Merrit Island. This guy was proudly perched while another (female?) Jay was skulking around nearby.
Bonus: My first attempt at youtube videos. I took 40 seconds of video of a Pileated Woodpecker...
Below I list out some of the parks I had planned on visiting and some that I actually made it to. This may be of use to anyone planning a trip to Florida soon.
http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/
J N Darling National Wildlife Refuge
Wildlife Dr, Sanibel, FL 33957, USA
Great spot. Traffic to and from the island is almost exhaustive.
