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On Saturday, February 21, ten birders from as far away as Michigan and New Jersey joined Luis Gonzalez and Brian Rapoza for Tropical Audubon’s annual Miami Exotics tour. Using a 15-passenger van to transport the group, we spent the day searching for as many of south Florida’s introduced bird species as possible. Among the seventy-four species tallied by day’s end were twenty-two different exotics!
On Saturday, February 14, thirty-six birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a pleasant morning of birding at Black Point Park and Cutler Wetlands in south Miami-Dade.
Thirty-four birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for what was scheduled to be a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. The rains from an approaching cold front held off until noon, allowing us to visit four different locations in the park before calling it a day.
From Friday, January 16th to Monday, January 19th, seven birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for Tropical Audubon’s annual winter birding tour to the Tallahassee area in north Florida. The group consisted of John Boyd, Nancy Freedman, Liz Gushee, Deb Magid, Ann Martinez and Jim Sigsbee, all from Miami-Dade County, and Ann Wiley from Broward County.
The 56th annual Miami (Dade County) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 20. On count day, 41 participants counted 14,637 birds of 124 species and two other taxa. Compared with 2024, there were 3,146 more birds counted and 9 more species
On Saturday, December 6, twenty-two birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding along Tamiami Trail in Collier County. The trip began at the Oasis Visitor Center in Big Cypress National Preserve. While in Big Cypress, we also made brief stops at Monument Lake Campground and H.P. Williams Wayside Park.
Ten birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for this 11-day tour of southern Guatemala’s highland areas, which began and ended in Guatemala City. The first two days of the tour were spent visiting birding locations near Antigua, Guatemala’s colonial capital. The remainder of the tour was spent birding on or near the dormant Atitlan volcano and around scenic Lake Atitlan.
On Saturday, October 25, twenty-two birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. Locations visited included Coe Visitor Center, Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo Trails, Long Pine Key, Mahogany Hammock, West Lake and Flamingo.
On Sunday, September 28, thirty-one birders joined TAS field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a morning of birding at Greynolds Park in North Miami Beach. Thirty-four birds were tallied by the group.
On Saturday, September 27, thirty-nine birders joined TAS President Joe Barros for a morning of birding at Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables. Thirty-two species were tallied by the group.
On Saturday, September 13, twenty-four birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a morning of birding at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne.
On Saturday, September 6, thirty-seven birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza as we kicked off the 2025-26 field trip season with a morning of birding at Tropical Park in Miami.
On Saturday, March 29, TAS President Joe Barros and TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza led Tropical Audubon’s annual spring birding trip to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables. The assembled group, which included both Tropical Audubon and Fairchild Garden members, was split into two smaller groups, one led by Joe and the other by Brian. Both groups made a complete circuit of the garden, but in opposite directions, then reassembled at the end of the morning to compare sightings. As is often the case when we split into two groups, each group saw a few birds that the other group didn’t.
On Saturday, March 22, twenty-six birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Martin and Northern Palm Beach Counties. Locations visited include Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Pine Glades Natural Area and John C. and Mariana Jones/Hungryland Wildlife and Environmental Area.
On Saturday, March 8, twenty-seven birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a very pleasant morning of birding at Wakodahatchee and Green Cay Wetlands in southern Palm Beach County. We tallied 41 bird species at Wakodahatchee and 42 species at Green Cay; our combined total for both locations were 51 species.
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; other locations visited while in the park included Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo Trails, the Gate 13 restoration area, Long Pine Key picnic area, Pa-hay-Okee overlook, Mahogany Hammock, Paurotis Pond, West Lake and the Flamingo area.
On Saturday, February 22, ten birders joined Brian Rapoza and Luis Gonzalez for Tropical Audubon’s annual Miami Exotics tour. The tour began and ended at Tropical Park: we also made stops in South Miami, The Falls area, Palmetto Bay, Kendall, West Kendall, Sweetwater and Miami Beach. A total of 65 species were tallied during the tour, including 20 introduced species.
On Saturday, February 8, forty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a very pleasant morning of birding at Black Point Park and along the Black Creek Trail in southern Miami-Dade County. Fifty-one different bird species, plus one additional taxon was recorded during the morning.
On Saturday, February 1st, twenty-two birders joined Larry Manfredi for a hike along the L31-W Canal, which forms the eastern border of Everglades National Park near the park’s Homestead entrance. The morning began very foggy, but that didn’t stop Larry from finding eight different flycatcher species, including this Cassin’s Kingbird, during the hike.
On Saturday, January 25, thirty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a cool but sunny morning of birding at two iconic birding locations in southern Palm Beach County: Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Delray Beach and Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in Wellington.
The Kendall Area Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 21, 2024. Luis Gonzalez, the new compiler for this count (replacing Bill Boeringer), has prepared the following count summary.
Eight birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza this weekend for Tropical Audubon’s annual winter birding tour to the Tallahassee area in north Florida.
The 75th annual Coot Bay (Everglades National Park) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 28. On count day, 26 volunteers counted 43,137 birds of 103 species, plus two additional taxa. The totals were 18,611 less birds and 16 less species than in 2023.
On Saturday, January 5, an astounding 61 birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for the first birding trip of 2025, a full-day exploration of Everglades National Park. Among the 76 species seen were eight species of ducks and thirteen species of warblers, along with Purple Gallinule, American Bittern, Roseate Spoonbill, Bald Eagle and many more.
The 55th annual Miami (Dade County) Christmas Bird Count took place on Saturday, December 14. On count day, 38 participants counted 11,491 birds of 115 species in spite of intermittent rain and gusty winds throughout the day. Compared with 2023, there were 1,696 less birds counted and 13 less species.
On Saturday, December 7, twenty-one birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a productive day of birding along the Tamiami Trail (US 41) in Collier County. The trip began at the Oasis Visitor Center in Big Cypress National Preserve.
On Saturday, November 16, fifteen birders joined TAS field trip leader Luis Gonzalez for his annual birding trip to the Flamingo area in Everglades National Park. During three hours of birding around Flamingo, the group visited the Guy Bradley visitor center, marina, amphitheater area, campground and Eco Pond, tallying an amazing 71 bird species!
On Saturday, November 9, Andrea Diamond led her first TAS birding trip, at Kendale Lakes Park in West Kendall. Following is Andrea’s trip report.
On Saturday, November 2, fifteen birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a full day of birding in Everglades National Park. Though we had to deal with intermittent rain showers, we still managed to tally 64 species before calling it a day.
Banner Photo: Burrowing Owl by Federico Acevedo
On Saturday, March 7, over forty birders joined TAS Field Trip Coordinator Brian Rapoza for a warm but windy day of birding in Everglades National Park. Locations visited included Coe Visitor Center, Anhinga Trail, Long Pine Key, Mahogany Hammock, West Lake and Flamingo.