South Florida Trip ~ February 6, 2022

I had been reading the reports of a Zenaida Dove at Long Key State Park in the Florida Keys and was considering flying down there, but I had just done a successful trip to Texas in January, so that initially kept me from going. That changed when Richard Crossley found a Thick-billed Vireo at MacArthur Beach State Park on January 25th and a Yellow-faced Grassquit was photographed on the 28th at the Zenaida Dove spot! Due to other obligations, I was unable to go right away, but I eventually booked a $124.00 round-trip flight to Fort Lauderdale.

On Sunday, the 6th, the alarm went off at 2:30 AM. I left for the Philadelphia Airport, boarded my flight, landed in Fort Lauderdale at around noon, got my rental car, and headed for The Keys. I arrived at Long Key State Park around 3:15 PM and headed down the nature trail to the Zenaida Dove spot. I was a little surprised that I was the only birder there, but many had already been there before to see it. I spent over two hours there with no sign of the dove. A few Magnificent Frigatebirds soared overhead among the large numbers of Turkey Vultures.

Juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird

Male Magnificent Frigatebird

At around 5:30, with sunset approaching, I finally saw the Zenaida Dove perched on a fairly horizontal trunk that I had searched many times before. It spent the next 25 minutes there, allowing me to get some nice photos of it as the sunlight waned. Note the small white wing patch and the short tail. The purple patch on its neck also showed nicely, depending on the angle.

Zenaida Dove

On the way back out to the car, a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was standing along the boardwalk bridge.

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

I left there with a 'lifer' and headed to the Sunset Inn in Islamorada.

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