Florida Trip ~ June 10-11, 2000

June 10, 2000

I left the Lehigh Valley International Airport and flew to Fort Lauderdale by way of Pittsburgh. After picking up my rental car, I headed for the Frostproof area. Along the way, I saw Anhinga, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Swallow-tailed Kite, Northern Bobwhite, Common Moorhen, White-winged Dove, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Loggerhead Shrike, and Boat-tailed Grackle.

I stopped along Lake Walk-In-The-Water Road near Lake Weohyakapka northeast of Frostproof and scanned the skies where I was lucky to find a dark morph Short-tailed Hawk flying over the treeline. Osprey and Bald Eagle were also sighted from there.

The night was spent at the Prince of Wales Motel in Lake Wales.

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June 11, 2000

I returned to Lake Walk-In-The-Water Road and spotted Eurasian Collared-Dove, Pileated Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, and Northern Parula, but didn’t see any more Short-tailed Hawks.

I left there and drove to Hernando Beach, spotting Eastern Meadowlark along the way. I stopped along Flamingo Boulevard in Hernando Beach and found Purple Martin and a small group of Budgerigars that chattered in the trees in the 3500 block.

Budgerigar along Flamingo Boulevard in Hernando Beach.

The next stop was Crews Lake County Park where I saw Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Wood Stork, and Sandhill Crane.

I spent a second night at the Prince of Wales Motel in Lake Wales.

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Florida Trip ~ June 12, 2000

I spent another morning at Lake Walk-In-The-Water Road. This time I saw Anhinga, Red-shouldered Hawk, and a light morph Short-tailed Hawk. While there, I met Wes Biggs, who had led the trip I took to the Dry Tortugas back in 1997. He kindly gave me directions to a Canary-winged Parakeet site in Kendall.

From there, I drove down towards Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. A few Common Ground-Doves were present in a field along the way. A Swallow-tailed Kite coursed back and forth over Route 60 near Lake Kissimmee.

Swallow-tailed Kite near Lake Kissimmee, Florida on June 12, 2000. This bird was seen floating and wheeling around just above the treetops along Route 60, just west of the southern end of the lake. This is one of my favorite raptors.

At Loxahatchee, I found Least Bittern, White and Glossy Ibis, Mottled Duck, Purple Gallinule, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Black-necked Stilt, and Loggerhead Shrike.

Next, I motored down to the parakeet site near the Baptist Hospital in Kendall, which produced Eurasian Collared-Dove, Monk Parakeet, Red-whiskered Bulbul, and nice looks at White-winged Parakeets.

White-winged Parakeets along SW 87th Street in Kendall. Note the white and yellow edging on the wings.

I spent the next two nights at the Everglades Motel in Homestead.

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Florida Trip ~ June 13, 2000

My first stop was near the intersection of Avocado Drive and Redland Road where I was happy to find several Smooth-billed Anis in an overgrown area that was originally a housing development but was leveled by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Smooth-billed Ani near the intersection of Avocado Drive and Redland Road. The area where this bird was photographed used to be a housing development. Hurricane Andrew took out the homes, leaving only the streets surounded by high grass and brush. Then, several Smooth-billeds claimed it as their home.

Common Nighthawk and Gray Kingbird were also seen in other areas of Homestead. I revisited the Kendall site and got more looks at the White-winged Parakeets.

Everglades National Park was my next stop. The park produced Brown Pelican, Great “White” Heron, Wood Stork, Red-shouldered Hawk, Willet, Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Gray Kingbird, and Loggerhead Shrike. The Shiny Cowbirds at Flamingo were a nice surprise.

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Florida Trip ~ June 14, 2000

I returned the rental car and flew back home with four ‘life birds’ among the 73 species seen on the trip.

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Florida Trip List - June 10-14, 2000

1) Brown Pelican
2) Double-crested Cormorant
3) Anhinga
4) Least Bittern
5) Great Blue Heron
6) Great Egret
7) Snowy Egret
8) Little Blue Heron
9) Tricolored Heron
10) Cattle Egret
11) Green Heron
12) Black-crowned Night-Heron
13) White Ibis
14) Glossy Ibis
15) Wood Stork
16) Mottled Duck
17) Black Vulture
18) Turkey Vulture
19) Osprey
20) Swallow-tailed Kite
21) Bald Eagle
22) Red-shouldered Hawk
23) Short-tailed Hawk*
24) Red-tailed Hawk
25) Northern Bobwhite
26) Purple Gallinule
27) Common Moorhen
28) American Coot
29) Sandhill Crane
30) Killdeer
31) Black-necked Stilt
32) Willet
33) Laughing Gull
34) Royal Tern
35) Least Tern
36) Rock Dove
37) Eurasian Collared-Dove
38) White-winged Dove
39) Mourning Dove
40) Common Ground-Dove
41) Budgerigar*
42) Monk Parakeet
43) White-winged Parakeet*
44) Smooth-billed Ani*
45) Common Nighthawk
46) Chimney Swift
47) Red-bellied Woodpecker
48) Downy Woodpecker
49) Northern Flicker
50) Pileated Woodpecker
51) Great Crested Flycatcher
52) Gray Kingbird
53) Purple Martin
54) Blue Jay
55) American Crow
56) Fish Crow
57) Tufted Titmouse
58) Red-whiskered Bulbul
59) Carolina Wren
60) Northern Mockingbird
61) Loggerhead Shrike
62) European Starling
63) Common Myna
64) White-eyed Vireo
65) Northern Parula
66) Northern Cardinal
67) Red-winged Blackbird
68) Eastern Meadowlark
69) Boat-tailed Grackle
70) Common Grackle
71) Shiny Cowbird
72) Brown-headed Cowbird
73) House Sparrow

* Denotes "Life Bird."

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