South Florida Winter Weekend Jan 12—16, 2006
Posted by Brennan Mulrooney
Brennan Mulrooney
Brennan Mulrooney was born and raised in San Diego, California. Growing up, his heart and mind were captured by the ocean. He split his summer days between helping out behi...Related Trips
On our 2005 South Florida Winter Weekend tour we saw a fantastic assortment of South Florida specialties including Snail Kite, Short-tailed Hawk, Limpkin, Smooth-billed Ani, and West Indian Cave Swallow, and wintering Neotropical migrants including 14 species of warblers, all the while enjoying the warm winter temperatures for which the area is justly famous (despite the challenges presented by birding in the aftermath of one of the worst hurricane seasons in Florida’s history).
On our first morning, after enjoying scope views of Smooth-billed Ani just minutes from our hotel, we visited Wakodahatchee Wetlands. This spot has gained quite a reputation among bird photographers as a spot where you can get remarkably close to some spectacular birds. Purple Gallinule may be the star of the show, and they certainly put on a show for us; we had several that were almost too close to focus on. Others that vied for our attention were Mottled Ducks, Blue-winged and Green-winged teal, Tricolored and Green herons, and White and Glossy ibis—all seemingly at arm’s reach. A Wilson’s Snipe allowed us to marvel at its wonderfully camouflaged plumage; then somebody noticed that there was a second snipe right next to it, practically invisible until it moved.
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge provided repeated knockout views of a headliner target bird. It seemed like there were Limpkins around every corner! And all of them seem to be posing for us; in fact, my camera is still a bit warm to the touch. A Great Horned Owl lying down low on its nest was the icing on the cake for our first day, and soon we were headed south toward Everglades.
Our two days in and around Everglades National Park had numerous highlights and memorable moments. For starters, there were the pink birds of Paurotis Pond. As we watched the flaming pink of Roseate Spoonbills flying to and from their nests in the mangroves, a small flycatcher with a pink belly zipped by in front of us. After it settled on a twig to have a look around, we all enjoyed close-up scope views of a female Vermilion Flycatcher, a rarity in Florida. Then, in the afternoon up on the Tamiami Trail, we followed a pair of Snail Kites as they quickly traveled west, forcing us to repeatedly get in and out of the van just to keep up with them. After a couple of miles we found out where they were heading, as suddenly there were Snail Kites everywhere coming in to roost for the night.
Just outside the park, at Lucky Hammock, we were treated to some fantastic raptor watching. The birds seemed to be traveling in twos: we enjoyed a male and female Swainson’s Hawk sparring just above the hammock, we scoped two adult Peregrine Falcons out in the farm field, and then the climax—two dark morph Short-tailed Hawks circling low over our heads. We would later see a light morph Short-tailed there as well.
The 2005 hurricane season was none too kind to South Florida. Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma all did their share of damage. Everglades National Park was especially hard hit, and portions of the park were still closed for repairs while we were there. Even nearly three months after Wilma had passed through, the damage was clearly evident. Trees were stripped of their foliage, fences were blown over, roofs were covered with blue tarps and, in Flamingo, a 30-ft. park tour boat sat on its pontoons in the parking lot, right where the storm surge had presumably left it.
South Florida has evolved with hurricanes, and the damage done by this year’s storms will soon be just a memory. Even this year we could see that most of the damaged trees were starting to regenerate, their leaves sprouting directly from the limbs. Soon the wet season will return and the scars of this year will be covered up by lush new growth. This year’s tour provided a rare opportunity to see the incredible destructive power of these storms and, while it was a fascinating experience, it’s one that I (and the rest of South Florida) hope not to repeat next year!