TX - FL Trip ~ February 1, 2010

I had been reading reports about the Amazon Kingfisher and Roadside Hawk in Texas and the Masked Duck, La Sagra's Flycatcher, and Red-footed Booby in Florida. That made it tough trying to decide which state to visit for my once-a-year out-of-state trip. Thanks to a tip from a birding friend, I found out that I could go to both states for less than it would cost me for the gas to drive there. So, after happily recording a 'shutout' at my 10:30 hockey game late Sunday night, I drove home, showered, threw my bags in the car, and headed for Philadelphia International. I arrived in plenty of time for my 5:35 AM flight to Laredo, Texas, with a plane switch in Houston.

I landed in Laredo, got my Hertz rental car, which turned out to be a Toyota Prius, and headed for the spot where the Amazon Kingfisher was being seen, arriving a little after 11:00 AM. The bird was visiting the area where the Zacate Creek spills into the Rio Grande River. It had been most reliably seen in the early morning and late afternoon, apparently spending much of the day out of sight somewhere along the Rio Grande. Along with up to twenty other birders that included Wes Biggs, I watched for hours, waiting for the bird to show itself. Afternoon sightings from there included Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe, White-faced Ibis, Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants, Snowy and Cattle Egrets, Green Heron, American Coots, Black-necked Stilts, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted and Least Sandpipers, Osprey, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk, White-winged Dove, Ringed Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Great Kiskadees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

It was now after 5:00 with still no sign of the bird. As the sun got lower and lower, a number of birders 'packed it in' for the day. At 5:45, a bird flapped its way in towards the creek and I realized it was 'the' bird. It eventually worked its way up the creek where I managed to get very satisfying views of my 'life' Amazon Kingfisher, a 1st record for the U.S.!

This Ringed Kingfisher also hunted along the creek.

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TX - FL Trip ~ February 2, 2010

I went back to the kingfisher spot early the next morning and got some more looks at the bird hunting along the creek. I also managed to get some better photos of it---not the best, but not bad either considering the heavily overcast conditions. This was one of those.

From there, I headed for the lower Rio Grande Valley where a Roadside Hawk had been sporadically seen at Frontera Audubon Sanctuary in Weslaco. Along Routes 359 and 285, I spotted many Crested Caracaras.

American Kestrels, Eastern Meadowlarks, a few Loggerhead Shrikes, and a group of Lark Buntings were also seen there along with one of my favorite raptors, a White-tailed Hawk. Unfortunately, the gray skies and light rain made getting any decent photos a real challenge.

I drove into Frontera Audubon's parking lot and discovered that I had missed the Roadside Hawk by less than five minutes! It was upsetting to hear, "It just flew." I spent the rest of the day there hoping for it to return, but ended up driving back to Laredo empty-handed in the 'lifer' department.

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TX - FL Trip ~ February 3-4, 2010

February 3, 2010

Today was basically a travel day from Texas to Florida. The overnight rain continued as I headed to the Laredo Airport for my flight to Fort Lauderdale, FL via Houston. I arrived in Fort Lauderdale around sunset, got my Chevy Cobalt rental from Enterprise, and drove the 2-1/2 hours up I-95 to my motel in Palm Bay.

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February 4, 2010

I left the motel and drove the short distance up I-95 to the Viera Wetlands, getting there around sunrise. Because of the heavy rains that had occurred a few days before I arrived, the dike roads around the impoundments were closed to vehicles. So, I started walking the half-mile or so down the dike to Cell #4 to search for the male Masked Duck that had been there for over a month. Partway down, a Loggerhead Shrike perched in a tree along the dike.

Then, I very slowly walked right past a Limpkin standing on the dike road.

Eventually, the bird flew into its more natural habitat.

White Ibis also provided great looks at close range.

Cell #4 held Blue-winged Teal.

One of many Common Moorhens worked the edges of the vegetation.

One of three American Bitterns posed for a photo.

A pair of Sandhill Cranes were sporadically calling while building their nest.

Evenutally, more birders started filing into the area and, after about two hours, someone spotted the prize duck diving among a few American Coots. The Masked Duck was another 'lifer'. Its black head, eye ring, pale blue bill, and chestnut-colored body were unmistakable.

While we were watching the duck, an adult Bald Eagle circled overhead.

The impoundments also held Hooded Merganser, Glossy Ibis, Great Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Belted Kingfisher, which was the fourth species of kingfisher for the trip.

Around lunchtime, I left Viera and motored all the way back down I-95 to Pelican Harbor in Miami. There, I was very lucky to get to see and photograph the sub-adult Red-footed Booby that was sporadically visiting the harbor.

I continued down US-1 and took the Rickenbacker Causeway down to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne. There was only a little over an hour of light left when I got to the area where the La Sagra's Flycatcher had been spending most of its time. I saw very few birds there before sunset came, so I headed back up to my motel in Coral Springs.

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TX - FL Trip ~ February 5, 2010

I woke up early enough to get back to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park just before it opened. I arrived at the flycatcher spot a little after 8:00 AM under pretty windy conditions. A few minutes later, Greg Cranna from Massachusetts joined me. The next hour of watching and waiting produced Eastern Phoebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Common Yellowthroat, and a female Painted Bunting. We both agreed that the winds were not a good sign and that checking the leeward side of the area might be worth a try. We exchanged cell phone numbers and slowly ventured off to the surrounding areas. About 9:05, Greg called to let me know that he had the bird. I headed for his location and he pointed out the bird to me. It was about 10 feet up in a tree right next to a paved bike trail. I got excellent looks at my 'life' La Sagra's Flycatcher that was, at one time, no more than eight feet away! But by the time I decided to grab my camera, the bird moved back into the thicker vegetation and disappeared. We planned to hang around a while longer to see if it would reappear, but a heavy rain shower moved in and squashed that idea.

Instead, we decided to drive over to the Kendall Baptist Hospital to look for parrots and parakeets. We did see a small group of Monk Parakeets and a small group of adult and young White Ibis.

A Boat-tailed Grackle walked aroung the grounds.

From there, I drove to Miramar to hopefully get a look at a Purple Swamphen. Several of them cooperated with close views.

Note the length of the toes on this bird.

My description of them is a pale-headed Purple Gallinule on steroids. Here's a comparison photo of the two species. Note the differences in size, leg color, bill color, and frontal shield color.

I managed to get a few photos of the Purple Gallinules there, including this young bird.

Here's one of the adults.

Other birds seen there included Osprey, Tricolored Heron, Common Moorhen, a 'fly-by' Cooper's Hawk, and more Monk Parakeets.

I still had a good amount of daylight left, so I headed for Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. There, I was thrilled to find this single Roseate Spoonbill.

Four Wood Storks also were present. One young bird (right) was with the adults.

Other birds included Anhingas, Tricolored and Little Blue Herons, and Limpkin. I left after sunset and headed back to my room in Coral Springs.

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TX - FL Trip ~ February 6, 2010

I was supposed to getting on an 8:00 AM flight from Fort Lauderdale to Philadelphia, but the Mid-Atlantic was getting nailed by a major snowstorm and my flight departure time was rescheduled for 3:30 PM. Since Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge was about a half-hour away, I decided to spend the morning there. What I didn't realize was that there was an "Everglades Day" festival going on there. Tents full of displays and demonstrations were set up for the visitors. It just so happened that one of the people that was scheduled to speak at the time I was there was Kenn Kaufman, so I was pleasantly surprised when I got to meet him beforehand.

Nearby, a Red-shouldered Hawk of the pale 'Florida' race was unconcerned by the visitors watching it as it caught a lizard.

An Anhinga perched on a snag, waiting for its wings to dry.

A Little Blue Heron stalked something in one of the impoundments.

A pair of Mottled Ducks swam nearby.

A Tricolored Heron was also there.

A Pileated Woodpecker hung on a telephone pole along the main road.

I left there, headed for the airport, and dropped off my rental car. Little did I know that my delayed flight back to Pennsylvania was cancelled because the Philadelphia Airport was completely shut down. One U.S. Airways representative managed to get me on a flight to their hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. Unfortunately, that connecting flight to Philadelphia was also cancelled, so I ended up spending the night in the Charlotte airport.

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