Florida Trip ~ May 5, 1997

Our plan for the day was to bird our way down to Key West. My first 'lifer' of the day turned out to be a Magnificent Frigatebird that circled over the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway along US-1, north of Key Largo. Farther down The Keys, we spent a few hours searching Sugarloaf and Saddlebunch Keys for Mangrove Cuckoo. The fact that we were there in the middle of the day probably had a lot do to with us being unsuccessful. We did, however, find Common Ground-Dove, Gray Kingbird, Black-whiskered Vireo, Northern Parula, Prairie and Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Northern Waterthrush. On No Name Key, near Big Pine, we got within several feet of the tiny Key Deer.

Once we reached Key West, we headed for the corner of Flagler Avenue and 17th Terrace. This was the spot that the hotline had mentioned to look for Shiny Cowbird. While standing on the corner, we found several White-crowned Pigeons perched in a tree. It was then that Joe Ondrejko, the property owner, invited us into his house to watch his feeders. His property was like a miniature jungle, which provided great habitat for the birds. From his windows, we got excellent looks at Shiny Cowbirds and the White-crowned Pigeons.

Shiny Cowbird in Key West, Florida.

White-crowned Pigeon in Key West, Florida.

After another unsuccessful search for Mangrove Cuckoo at Little Hamaka City Park, we headed for the Lands End Marina where we secured a parking space of our car for the days that we were going to be on the Dry Tortugas boat trip. After eating, we drove to the Florida Keys Junior College on Stock Island, parked in the lot, and waited for dusk. It was there that I saw the Antillean Nighthawk. Its "fluttery" flight, like that of a bat's, was very different from our Common Nighthawk's.

We returned to the marina and carried our things over to the "Yankee Freedom", our floating home for the next three days.

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