The following trip report was written by Rachel DiPietro, who led the TAS birding trip to Everglades National Park on Saturday, January 27. Her trip report was originally posted on Tropical Audubon’s Bird Board on Facebook:
“Today (1/27), thirty-six birders joined me for a full-day caravan trip through Everglades National Park. This trip focused on wintering songbirds, seabirds, and resident wading birds.
An early surprise came from a pre-start scan of the parking lot at Ernest F Coe Visitor Center on the park border, when a flock of four Egyptian Geese flew by in the distance, identified by their characteristic loud honking. At Anhinga Trail, amid the show put on by several adult and juvenile Purple Gallinules, we heard, but did not see, a Least Bittern, our smallest and most secretive heron species; one each of light morph and dark morph Short-tailed Hawk were also spotted soaring overhead. Long Pine Key gave excellent looks at resident Pine Warblers and Eastern Towhees, as well as a view of a Red-bellied Woodpecker that actually included its red belly!
We timed Flamingo as the midpoint of the trip to align with a favorable low tide shortly after noon, to take advantage of viewing hundreds of seabirds out on the exposed flats south of the Guy Bradley Visitor Center. Many Black Skimmers, both White and Brown Pelicans, and Caspian Terns were present, as well as one Black-bellied Plover, Ospreys, and many Little Blue Herons in the distance. A quick stop at the amphitheater gave good looks at a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Spotted Sandpiper. Another stop at the scrubby patch by the new restaurant yielded few birds, but great wintering species with Painted Bunting and Grasshopper Sparrow (as well as some beautiful little skipper butterflies).
We made our last two stops at West Lake and Mahogany Hammock to end the trip. West Lake was surprisingly quiet, with only a few distant ibis and a Tricolored Heron, but Mahogany Hammock delivered a finale that included multiple warbler species (Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, American Redstart, Magnolia and Prairie) as well as a pair of calling Barred Owls with a visual on one. The owls were graciously pointed out to us by a visitor not part of our group.
Thanks everyone for a great trip with this being my first go as a TAS trip leader!
A full eBird trip report, listing the 62 species tallied during the day and including checklists for each stop, can be viewed here: https://ebird.org/tripreport/198420.”
Trip participants on Anhinga Trail: Photo by Rachel DiPietro.