On Saturday, March 1st, twenty-three birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. The trip began at the Coe Visitor Center, where 21 birds were identified: White-winged Dove, Anhinga, Green Heron, Western Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Pileated Woodpecker, American Kestrel, Great Crested Flycatcher, Blue Jay, American Crow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle, Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Northern Parula and Northern Cardinal. A pair of Common Myna were seen around the fee station as the group entered the park and headed to the Royal Palm area. Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron and Red-shouldered Hawk were seen during the drive to Royal Palm.
Swallow-tailed Kites have returned to the park for the breeding season, and the group saw three of these majestic raptors while exploring Anhinga Trail’s sawgrass marsh habitat. Other birds found there included Sora, Purple Gallinule, Anhinga, Double-crested Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Short-tailed Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Great Crested Flycatcher, White-eyed Vireo, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler and Prairie Warbler. We also saw several American Alligators. In and around Gumbo Limbo Trail’s tropical hardwood hammock, we added Mourning Dove, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Yellow-rumped Warbler.
Our next stop was at the Gate 13 restoration area near Hidden Lake, where we added Blue-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Killdeer, Long-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Pied-billed Grebe, White Ibis, Glossy Ibis and Belted Kingfisher. In the pine rocklands at Long Pine Key picnic area, we found Downy Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Eastern Towhee and Pine Warbler. By this point in the trip, it was now nearing lunchtime, but because it would be low tide in Flamingo just before noon, the group drove directly to Flamingo’s Guy Bradley Visitor Center, where we had lunch while scoping the mudflats just offshore.
Birds seen during our working lunch included Black-bellied Plover, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Laughing Gull, Black Skimmer, Caspian Tern, Forster’s Tern, Royal Tern, “Great White” Heron, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Bald Eagle and Tree Swallow. After lunch, we visited the Flamingo marina, where we found West Indian Manatees and an American Crocodile, plus a Spotted Sandpiper and an Osprey nest with a chick inside. After quick stopes at Eco Pond (no birds seen) and the campground amphitheater area (another osprey nest had chicks and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron was new), we left Flamingo and headed back north, stopping at West Lake (all the wintering ducks are gone) and Paurotis Pond (good numbers of Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills were present!)
Along the road to Mahogany Hammock, we were surprised to find a Sandhill Crane feeding in the marsh. Mahogany Hammock’s boardwalk was relatively quiet, with no new birds seen. A flock of Boat-tailed Grackles, seen at the turnoff to Pa-hay-okee overlook, provided the last new species for the day. We checked all of the cypress domes along the road to Pa-hay-okee, hoping to find Barred Owls, but found none. We ended the day with 76 bird species observed; a complete list can be viewed in this eBird trip report.
Sandhill Crane: Photo by Brian Rapoza