Around 5:15 in the morning on Sunday a Barred Owl woke us up as it added itself to our day list. We did not get any flight calls, but Great Horned and Screech Owls came easily, as did Chuck's and a surprise Whip-poor-will near the marina. We did miss Yellow-crowned Night-heron which had me a little worried. As day broke Eco pond came to life with two Lesser Nighthawks, Marsh Wren, Black-necked Stilt, Solitary Sandpiper, Sharp-tailed Sparrow (We are thinking Saltmarsh), and Louisiana Waterthrush. Phil fell on his face while stomping which was sort of amusing. A quick drive to the walk in camp sites gave us a good scan of the bay where we found Reddish Egret, White Pelican, Ruddy Turnstone, Willet, Least Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plover. Doing exceptionally well on time we made a few stops on our way to the visitor center where we found Yellow-breasted Chat, and two buntings. Right across from the Visitor Center we found a Western Kingbird that was present earlier in the year. The parking lot had an early singing Black-whiskered Vireo (another lifer for Phil) as well as our first Blue-headed of the day. Working our way out of the park, the marina had Grasshopper Sparrow, Boat-tailed Grackle (we did not know any spots in the keys at this point), and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. Coot Bay Pond had Shovler, Wigeon and Scaup mixed in with Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, and American Coot. Between Flamingo and the Monroe-Dade line we drove slowly and listened for chips. By doing this we added Redstart, Parula, Northern Waterthrush, and Blue Jay to the day list. A Swallow-tailed Kite was a nice addition before we got to Snake Bight and into Dade county. It only took about an hour to get through Dade and back into Monroe on Card Sound Road where we made an unsuccessful stop for Golden Warbler. North Key Largo had our first non-ground doves of the day as well as our staked out Carolina Wren (100 for the day) and my year Black-throated Green Warbler. The Audubon Research Center neighborhood had Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, as well as a few other warbler species and our only Cooper's Hawks of the day. The Green Turtle had a Hummingbird but not much else. We probably made a few more stops between Key Largo and Marathon. In Marathon we got lost looking for Burrowing Owls, but finally found the golf course where we were shown a fairly poor nest that contained a very agitated Burrowing Owl. The Marathon Airport might have given us our first Peregrine Falcon of the day, but not much else was around in the category of Cattle Egret or Loggerhead Shrike. The Gov't Center did not have any Terns return yet. I think we were around 110 or 115 when we hit 7 mile bridge. Ohio Key came through very well giving us a large boost for the day list with new shorebirds including rarities such as Piping Plover and American Golden Plover and more common stuff like Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers. No Sanderlings.
 We also found a dead Sora on the side of the road.
Big Pine Key did not give us the push we wanted, but we did manage to scrap out a Pine Warbler, Barn Swallow, Tree Swallow, and Sharp-shinned Hawk for the day list. Boca Chica and Sugarloaf were skipped just because we felt like it. The dump ok Stock Island had nothing on Sunday since it was closed. Not seeing the warning signs until we returned to the car, a quick walk around the golf course added Muscovy (Phil's best friend) and Fish Crow as well as spotting more Blue-winged Teal and another Shovler. We had high hopes for Key West. Higg's Beach was not bad with the additions of Forster's and Sandwich Terns, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and Common Myna. Burger Kinglet (House Sparrow) was added somewhere. Ft. Zach had a female Ring-necked Duck as well as a Cockatiel which really wanted to be a White-winged Dove that late in the day. Phil was losing hope for the Lo'head since it looked like it already said 'screw you guys, I'm going home.' The sun went down and we did not find any new birds so our total stood at 133. Big Misses include: Cattle Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Northern Gannet, Sedge Wren, and a few other things which were probably around. Monroe is a fund county to attempt a big day. Chilly Willy's was a good spot near mile marker 80 where we had a fairly cheap dinner and my sobriety questioned when I fell asleep for a little bit. |
