The continued reports of three life birds in Florida and one in Texas prompted me to schedule a triangulated trip from here to Florida and then over to Texas before returning back home. Most of my travelling friends had already gone for these birds or weren't able to go when I was planning to, so I was going to have to do this trip solo, which would make things a little more challenging. It's always better to have more eyes looking and, especially in my case, better ears listening.
I got up early on Wednesday morning and headed to the Philadelphia airport for my $42 (yes, $42!) non-stop flight to Fort Lauderdale. I got my rental car at around 1:30 PM and headed for the Florida Keys. It was mostly cloudy, but the temperature was in the 70's. It was nice to be in a T-shirt, especially since the cold seems to infiltrate me quicker than it used to in my younger years. Along the way, birds seen included Magnificent Frigatebird, Great and Snowy Egret, Brown and American White Pelican, Bald Eagle, Osprey, Red-shouldered and Broad-winged Hawk, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Royal Tern, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Common Myna, and Boat-tailed Grackle.
I arrived at the "Blue Hole" on Big Pine Key at 5:00 PM with only about an hour of light left, so I did a reconnaissance of the area and saw only three species before it started to rain.
I headed for the Sugarloaf Lodge on nearby Sugarloaf Key where I spent the next two nights.
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