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Friday 3/9:

Today I was day-tripping to Dry Tortugas. Birders should know all about it, site of the only Sooty Tern and Bridled Noddy colony in the US (ignoring Hawaii) plus a regular spot for boobies and a great spot for migration. I was a bit early for migrants, but otherwise got the full experience.

The day began with an early start and a short drive to the parking garage near the dock. A two minute walk later and I was checked in, so I settled down to relax for a few minutes and check out the harbor. A bunch of pelicans and a Great Egret were right in front and I’m moderately sure I was hearing a Chimney Swift or two overhead.

Pelican

Egret

Around 7:30, we got the introductory lecture and boarded the boat. I wandered around a bit and then decided to get breakfast before finding a seat for the trip out. The cereal and juice were fine but I’m fairly sure that the grapes had dried spiders among them. After quickly eating, I worked my way to the outside and settled in to scan.

It wasn’t a particularly birdy trip on the way out. A few gulls and terns, some pelicans, an Osprey, and a couple others were about it. The others were fairly good, being a Blue-winged Teal about 30 minutes out and a full adult Pomarine Jaeger a little later.

Frigatebirds and something??

Masked Boobies (probably want to click through and go to a larger size)

The island’s well described in books, so I’ll skip writing about it and just show some photos.

Fort Jefferson

Ruddy Turnstone

Frigatebird

The colony

Frigatebird

Barred Yellow

Royal Tern and friends

Noddies

Peregrine

Sooty Tern

Frigatebird with stick

The ride back was quieter (other than one close pass of a Masked Booby). We arrived around 5:30 and I walked over to Mallory Square. I intended to wait for sunset, but it was overly tacky and I was getting hungry. I wandered around a bit looking for a sandwich shop or something but eventually settled for a couple slices of pizza.

Masked Booby

Thursday 3/8:

I got up early and decided to take a quick drive around to look for exotics. I did succeed in finding a couple mynas but I was in traffic and didn’t get enough of a view to say Hill or Common. Otherwise, two distant parrots were it (plus Muscovy, but I’m waiting for some in Texas). Stopping at a market for snacks and water, I watched 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks overhead.

After a stop at the hotel for breakfast and to gather up my things, I headed for the Everglades. I should have stopped on the way for a displaying cowbird (guessing Bronzed) but didn’t bother. It was still very windy and there wasn’t much along the road.

After passing the entrance gate (and a quick stop for a low Red-shouldered Hawk), I headed to the Royal Palm area. On the Anhinga Trail, there were all sorts of waterbirds, plus many Black Vultures.

 

 

(That last one’s a video of the world’s dumbest vulture, click through to watch)

I also walked the Limbo Gumbo Trail, which was pretty quiet, but I did see a Cyrano Darner.

Moving on, I stopped again at the Mahogany Hammock, which was too windy. There were a few Four-spotted Pennants and an Everglades Sprite, but birds were very limited.

I continued on towards the various ponds, picking up my first lifer on the way when several Swallow-tailed Kites flew over. Most of the ponds were pretty empty, but there were a ton of birds at Mrazek. Unfortunately it was too windy for the scope, but I picked out a variety of shorebirds including a Black-necked Stilt and both yellowlegs and various dabbling ducks.

Reaching Flamingo, I walked the Eco Pond, which was loaded with Great Southern Whites (and lots of calling White-eyed Vireos) plus a few more waders. Getting hungry (it was after 12:00), I headed back to Flamingo. Although right into the wind, I noticed the shorebird roost was visible and that the tide was coming in and birds were leaving. I ran back for the scope and picked out a few Marbled Godwits among the Willets, pelicans, and Laughing Gulls but most of the birds left before I could go through them.

I debated stopping at the cafe, but instead grabbed an ice cream sandwich from the store and headed to the Rowdy Bend Trail, where a Black-throated Gray Warbler had been reported. It was very hot by now and there wasn’t much activity. In fact, I saw about 10 birds total. Five of them were Swallow-tailed Kites, which allowed for some photos.

I also had some decent bugs including a Cassius Blue and several Needham’s Skimmers.

 

 

From here, I headed out and began the drive to Key West. On the way, kingfishers were on the wires like Kestrels in south Texas but there wasn’t too much else of note. I eventually needed a stop and pulled into the nature trail of the Key Deer NWR. It had recently burned and was late afternoon and almost nothing was around. I did see one Saddlebags that appeared to be an Antillean but very little else.

Reaching Key West, I found the hotel and learned that there was a shuttle service to downtown. After showering, I hopped on and followed the crowd to BO’s Fish Wagon. I had the grouper sandwich, which was good although tough to tell how different it was. After eating, I caught the shuttle back (and got the doors closed on my hand in the process, mostly my fault) and went pretty much straight to bed.

Wednesday 3/7:

A morning flight to Ft. Lauderdale via Atlanta was easy (other than the long wait for baggage checkin at Logan) with nothing of note seen. After picking up the car, I headed for Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, where a La Sagra’s Flycatcher (and Great Cormorant) were being seen. Late afternoon wasn’t the best time (plus it was quite windy and there was a shower moving through), but I started down the nature trail and was immediately greeted by a pair of Common Ground-Doves.

Wandering down the trail, I didn’t find a whole lot but did get the first butterflies (Gulf Fritillary and Julia) and dragonflies (all Band-winged Meadowhawks). Birds were pretty few. At the far end of the trail, I found a small flock of warblers including Palm, Black-and-white, Parula, and Prairie. I also had another small bird that had clearly gotten soaked in the rain. My initial impression was Nashville Warbler, but it eventually turned around and had a bill that was way too thick, a Painted Bunting! Unfortunately it didn’t hang around for photos.

After a few loops up and down the trail, I gave up temporarily on the flycatcher and decided to walk over to the lighthouse for the Great Cormorant. The wind was blasting off the water and it was almost impossible to look out. No cormorant to be found, but a Palm Warbler posed nicely.

Another couple loops of the trail only turned up some lizards before I decided to give up and move on.

Things went a bit downhill from here. I decided to head towards Homestead to be close to the Everglades for tomorrow and the route down was straight US-1, which has traffic light every 1/2 mile or so (and it was rush hour). Reaching Homestead, I went looking for a hotel and promptly found that all three I checked had no vacancy. Getting a little worried, I stopped at a McDonald’s and pulled up hotels.com on my phone while eating. I found something reasonable back in Kendall (10-15 miles north) and booked it. I arrived to find that it was a smoking room (although I barely noticed any odor thankfully) and my room was the closest to the highway with minimal soundproofing. It didn’t matter too much, I was tired enough.