Florida Trip ~ January 4-5, 2020

Since way back in October, I had been reading the almost daily reports of an Antillean Palm-Swift in the Florida Keys. Unfortunately, work and other factors didn't allow me to try for the bird in 2019. Most of my friends had already gone down there and seen the bird, so my attempt to see it was going to have be done solo. On December 29th, a probably-wild White-cheeked Pintail was found near Naples, so there was even more incentive to go. So on the 2nd, I booked a January 4th flight out of Philadelphia. Later that day, I realized that there had been no reports of the swift from the last two days. I also found out that a local birding couple, Mike and Corinne Schall, had spent the previous two days watching for it and had been unsuccessful. Hopefully, that would change.


Saturday, January 4th, 2020

It was an unusually warm 86 degrees when I got off the plane in the late afternoon, got my rental car, and headed for The Keys. As I stopped for something to eat in Florida City, a heavy downpour preceded an approaching cold front. Now dark, I drove the rest of the way to the Kingsail Resort in Marathon where I spent the night.


Sunday, January 5th, 2020

I arrived at "the swift spot" at the Florida Keys Country Club by 8:00 AM and met Alan Schmierer. He had been looking for the bird every day since the 1st with no luck. The odds that the bird would show were looking pretty grim. We spent most of the day together watching for the bird. He finally left around 2:00 PM after spending five days there. There were a few consolation prizes that showed up during the day. At least three different Short-tailed Hawks put on a show.

Light morph Short-tailed Hawk

Juvenile dark morph Short-tailed Hawk

Adult dark morph Short-tailed Hawk

A pair of Monk Parakeets squawked as they flew past. I later found them huddled together on a wire along the south edge of the golf course.

Monk Parakeets

Other birds seen while looking for the swift included Magnificent Frigatebird, Double-crested Cormorant, Brown Pelican, Great and Snowy Egret, White Ibis, Osprey, Bald Eagle, American Kestrel, Ring-billed and Laughing Gull, Eurasian Collared-Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Tree Swallow, Northern Mockingbird, Common Yellowthroat, and the ever-present Palm Warbler. I stayed until around 4:00 PM and decided that it wasn't worth spending more time there given the circumstances. While eating at a nearby Wendy's, I saw two Common Mynas working the edge of the parking lot.

Common Mynas

I headed back up the Overseas Highway, parked at the bridge over the Toms Harbor Channel, and got photos of a Royal Tern and some of the Brown Pelicans that were soaring by.

Royal Tern

Adult Brown Pelican

Juvenile Brown Pelican

As daylight waned, I continued northeast on US-1 and would use the WoodSprings Suites extended stay motel near South Miami Heights as my base for the next three nights.

Sunset in the Florida Keys

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Florida Trip ~ January 6, 2020

I left early and did the nearly 2-hour drive across the Tamiami Trail to the Lely Resort near Naples. It was here that the White-cheeked Pintail was appearing daily. At around 8:30, it flew in to the lake on the west side of Lely Resort Boulevard and joined several Mottled Ducks.

White-cheeked Pintail

White-cheeked Pintail with a Mallard x Mottled Duck

About an hour later as workers mowed the grass around the lake, it took off with the Mottled Ducks to the west.

White-cheeked Pintail

While there, Wood Stork, Brown Pelican, Cattle Egret, and Blue-winged Teal posed for photos.

Wood Stork

Brown Pelican

Cattle Egret

Blue-winged Teal

Other notables seen there included Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Great Egret, Tricolored and Green Heron, White Ibis, Osprey, Killdeer, and Boat-tailed Grackle.

After not seeing any reports of the Antillean Palm-Swift from 2020, there was a surprising report of one from the Billy Creek Preserve near Fort Myers. Since it was only about 45 minutes from the Pintail site, I decided to drive up there and take a look. It was an area of impoundments and marsh that produced plenty of photo opportunities, but there was no swift present.

Beware of Alligator (not Dog) sign

White Ibis

Limpkin

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Common Gallinule

Black Vulture

Wood Stork

From there, I drove over to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. Since it was fairly late in the day, I didn't walk the boardwalk. Instead, I checked out the visitor center's feeders and birded around the parking lot. The only new bird was a Common Ground Dove at the feeders.

Common Ground Dove

I made the long drive back across the Tamiami Trail and returned to my motel for the night.

Looking southeast from the Tamiami Trail.

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Florida Trip ~ January 7, 2020

I headed south to Everglades National Park where a La Sagra's Flycatcher was being seen. I had seen one back in 2010 at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, but I never got the chance to get a photo of it. Just before I reached the park entrance, a Crested Caracara flew from one of the telephone poles.

Crested Caracara

Everglades National Park

I got to the spot a little before 9:00 AM. It was a dirt road through a thick hammock. I was the only one there when I heard the La Sagra's call about 15 minutes later, but I couldn't find it since it seemed pretty far in. A car pulled up from farther down the road. It was a couple who told me that they had seen the bird at around 8:30. They left and, soon after, an older couple parked and joined me in the search. We heard and saw two Great Crested Flycatchers but still couldn't find the La Sagra's.

Great Crested Flycatcher

After an hour or so, they left, too. Around 11:00 AM, I heard the bird calling close to the road and finally spotted it near the top of a tree where I was able to get some decent photos of it.

La Sagra's Flycatcher

Other birds found there included Tree Swallow, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Black-throated Green and Palm Warbler, American Redstart, Northern Cardinal, a calling Barred Owl, and a fly-over Short-tailed Hawk.

From there, I drove the three minutes over to the Anhinga Trail and walked the boardwalk, which provided more photo chances.

Purple Gallinule

Green Heron

American Alligator

A friend had texted me the night before to make sure that I knew that there had been a report of a Cuban Pewee at Pinecrest Gardens, southwest of Miami. I was keeping an eye on it to see if there had been any follow-up sightings, which there hadn't been, but I figured I'd still give it a shot since I had the afternoon open. Although most of the area was birdless, I did cross paths with a group of birds in the one corner of the gardens that contained a calling Red-shouldered Hawk, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, White-eyed Vireo, and warblers that included Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Yellow-throated, Palm, Black-and-white, Northern Parula, and American Redstart.

White-eyed Vireo

Northern Parula

Next, I headed for the agricultural fields near the Miami Executive Airport where a Zenaida Dove had been seen the last two summers. This was another long shot since it was winter and the field where most of the sightings were from was all overgrown. I got there about an hour before sunset and found several Savannah Sparrows and an Eastern Meadowlark.

Eastern Meadowlark

Then, a few Northern Harriers, including this nice adult male, flew by and dropped into the field to roost for the night.

Northern Harrier

At dusk, two Yellow-crowned Night-Herons landed on the road in front of my car. I stayed after sunset to see if any owls might be roosting there and at least three Barn Owls flew out and were circling over me and my car, occasionally screaming to each other. With the help of the streetlights (which I assume were there for potential future development), I put my normal lens on my camera and managed to get some photos of the experience.

Barn Owl

The drive back to my motel was a short and happy one that included a stop for a celebratory "Chocolate Frosty" at Wendy's.

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Florida Trip ~ January 8, 2020

I packed up and drove to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge where I walked the Marsh Trail around the impoundments. A local Audubon Society was doing a walk there and pointed out a well-hidden nest with a Great Horned Owl in it.

Great Horned Owl on nest

The brush along the dikes produced Monk Parakeet, Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Northern Mockingbird, Boat-tailed Grackle, and Yellow-rumped and Palm Warbler. Inside the impoundments were Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Egret, Great Blue, Little Blue, Tricolored, and Green Heron, White and Glossy Ibis, and Common and Purple Gallinule. Raptors included Osprey, Northern Harrier, and a Red-shouldered Hawk that was sitting on a nest in another small group of trees near the observation tower.

Red-shouldered Hawk on nest

Then, something else flew by that I never expected to see while I was there.

The Good Year Blimp headed north.

At the last corner before heading back to the car, this Purple Gallinule put on a show as it used its extremely long toes to walk across the vegetation.

Purple Gallinule

I still had some time before I had to drop off the car at the airport, so I headed over to the Richardson Historic Park & Nature Preserve where I had seen my 'life' Bananaquit in 2017. It was real close to the airport and I was hoping that there may be Painted Buntings there like there was that year, but since it was the middle of the day, things were pretty quiet. I did come across a small flock that included Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warbler, and White-eyed and Blue-headed Vireo.

Blue-headed Vireo

I boarded my flight back to Philadelphia and got back home a little after midnight. The trip covered 765 miles and produced 86 species. To see more photos from the trip, you can go to my Florida Photo Album.

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Florida Trip List----January 4-8, 2020

1) Mute Swan
2) Mottled Duck
3) White-cheeked Pintail
4) Blue-winged Teal
5) Ring-necked Duck
6) Ruddy Duck
7) Pied-billed Grebe
8) Magnificent Frigatebird
9) Brown Pelican
10) Anhinga
11) Double-crested Cormorant
12) Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
13) Black-crowned Night-Heron
14) Green Heron
15) Tricolored Heron
16) Little Blue Heron
17) Cattle Egret
18) Snowy Egret
19) Great Egret
20) Great Blue Heron
21) Wood Stork
22) Glossy Ibis
23) White Ibis
24) Roseate Spoonbill
25) Turkey Vulture
26) Black Vulture
27) Osprey
28) Northern Harrier
29) Bald Eagle
30) Cooper's Hawk
31) Short-tailed Hawk
32) Red-shouldered Hawk
33) Red-tailed Hawk
34) Crested Caracara
35) American Kestrel
36) Limpkin
37) Purple Gallinule
38) Common Gallinule
39) American Coot
40) Killdeer
41) Laughing Gull
42) Ring-billed Gull
43) Royal Tern
44) Rock Pigeon
45) Mourning Dove
46) Eurasian Collared-Dove
47) Common Ground Dove
48) Monk Parakeet
49) Barn Owl
50) Great Horned Owl
51) Barred Owl
52) Ruby-throated Hummingbird
53) Belted Kingfisher
54) Red-bellied Woodpecker
55) Eastern Phoebe
56) Great Crested Flycatcher
57) La Sagra's Flycatcher
58) Loggerhead Shrike
59) White-eyed Vireo
60) Blue-headed Vireo
61) Blue Jay
62) American Crow
63) Fish Crow
64) Tree Swallow
65) Carolina Wren
66) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
67) Gray Catbird
68) Northern Mockingbird
69) Common Myna
70) European Starling
71) Northern Parula
72) Yellow-rumped Warbler
73) Black-and-white Warbler
74) Black-throated Blue Warbler
75) Black-throated Green Warbler
76) Yellow-throated Warbler
77) Palm Warbler
78) Common Yellowthroat
79) American Redstart
80) Savannah Sparrow
81) Song Sparrow
82) Northern Cardinal
83) Eastern Meadowlark
84) Common Grackle
85) Boat-tailed Grackle
86) House Sparrow

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