Sixty birders joined TAS President Joe Barros on Saturday, September 23 for a half day of birding at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables. Due to the large size of the group, we broke into two groups, one led by Joe and the other led by Luis Gonzalez. As is often the case when we break into smaller groups, one group sees birds that the other group doesn’t. Birds seen only by Joe’s group included Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Cooper’s Hawk, Belted Kingfisher, Baltimore Oriole and Cape May and Yellow-throated Warblers. Birds seen only by Luis’ group included Great Blue, Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, Great Egret, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Great Crested Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Barn Swallow, Brown Thrasher, Bobolink, Louisiana Waterthrush and Blackburnian Warbler. Birds seen by both groups included Egyptian Goose, Anhinga, Green Heron, Pileated Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Vireo, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, American Redstart, Northern Parula, Black-and-white, Black-throated Blue and Prairie Warblers and Northern Cardinal. Non-avian wildlife seen during the outing included a young American Crocodile.
An eBird checklist that includes all birds encountered during the outing can be viewed here.
American Crocodile: Photo by Brian Rapoza