Yesterday I left for a three day camping trip down to the Everglades and south Florida. I made a quick detour to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park to search for the Bahama Mockingbird. I found almost everything Bryant mentioned in the post like the fire hydrant, Australian Pine stumps, and a family group of Northern Mockingbirds, but I could not find the Bahama. By one in the afternoon I had already seen Spot-breasted Orioles, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, and Gray Kingbird as well as watched several family groups of Northern Mockingbirds feeding on the ground. Like my only other trip there this year, I felt really good when I left and headed for the Everglades.
Once in the park I headed for Flamingo to try and add Mangrove Cuckoo to my year list. Some bad thunderstorms kept me in the car for a while, but once the rain cleared up the birds started singing and the bugs were somewhat tolerable. After a few stops I heard a Mangrove Cuckoo between Coot Bay and Christian Point. Several Black-whiskered Vireos and Prairie Warblers were heard, but I did not have any Golden Warblers. In the town of Flamingo Gray Kingbirds, White-crowned Pigeons and Swallow-tailed Kites were easily seen as well as a Black-whiskered Vireo and two Prairie Warblers in the same tree in the campground. Four Black-necked Stilts and a yellowlegs were seen behind Eco Pond. The mudflats at the Visitor Center had about 25 Short-billed Dowitchers, 10 Black-bellied Plovers, a few Willets and a Marbled Godwit. As the weather cleared the bugs got worse so I left for the northern part of the park. The marsh at Research Road did not have much more than a Swallow-tailed Kite, Eastern Meadowlarks and Common Ground Doves. While ghostriding the whip through the pinelands Eastern Bluebird, Pine Warbler, and Northern Bobwhite were found. Since the sun was getting low I headed back towards the Long Pine campground where I tried to sleep, but after a few hours conditions were just too miserable so I decided to head home.
|
