South Florida Winter Weekend Jan 10—14, 2008
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
Winters in South Florida are famously mild. Some years, in fact, they're downright warm! But we do get the occasional cold front that can bring the temperature plummeting down to a more seasonal level. Just such a weather event was forecast for our South Florida Winter Weekend tour, and I was none too pleased. Luckily, the weather forecasters of South Florida are better with hurricanes than cold fronts and we were spared. We enjoyed fantastic warm and sunny weather. But the weather isn't the only reason to visit the Sunshine State in winter; it just happens to be a great time for birding.
On our first day we focused on a couple of recently opened water reclamation facilities that have become absolute havens for both birds and birders alike. At Wakodahatchee Wetlands we were treated to Purple Gallinules in various plumages chasing each other through the fire flag and spatterdock. These birds are often secretive and difficult to see, but at "Wako" we always have great success. We also saw what appeared to be a Purple Gallinule on steroids; it was a Purple Swamphen. This species has been introduced to South Florida and is increasing in numbers fairly rapidly. Tricolored Herons and Blue-winged Teal were practically at our feet as we strolled along the boardwalk, and an immature Roseate Spoonbill was a nice surprise as it perched at close range for several minutes. Great Blue Herons were on nests, and a pair of Anhingas at their nest put on a great show for us. After a little bit of work, we were finally rewarded with a great look at a Sora scurrying through the marsh right at our feet. In addition to the marsh birds, we hit a great mixed songbird flock that contained eight species of warblers! After our walk at Wakodahatchee we drove a short distance to another great "sewer pond," Green Cay Wetlands. Here we hit the jackpot for one of our main target birds, the Limpkin. It seemed like there was one every 20 feet, and we were told that people had been seeing a lot more of them than usual in response to an increase in their aquatic snail prey.
As we headed south toward Florida City that first day, we made a little detour in search of another key bird that likes to dine on gastropods, the Snail Kite. I was a little anxious after hearing several negative reports from birders searching for these guys, but I knew this was our only shot, and we'd just have to do our best. We were a bit delayed in our search by a huge flock of Wood Storks loafing right next to the road, but soon we were in the zone. It took only a few minutes of searching before we hit pay dirt: a Snail Kite foraging not more than 100 yards from us! We watched as it flew low over the saw grass searching for its prey, wings bowed in its characteristic style. We saw it make several "kills," and while it's not quite as dramatic as when other raptors catch a meal, it was still special seeing such a highly adapted animal making a living as only it can.
Our next two days were focused on the incomparable Everglades National Park. We sampled several of the different habitats of the park, spending time exploring hardwood hammocks, pinelands, saw grass prairies, fresh water sloughs, mangrove forests, and the extensive mud flats of Florida Bay. During our time in the park we saw a very cooperative American Bittern, several Great White Herons, Bald Eagle, tons of the distinctively pale South Florida race of Red-shouldered Hawk, Great Horned Owl on its nest, Pileated Woodpeckers, and the white-eyed race of Eastern Towhee. A huge American crocodile at the Flamingo Marina was great to see, and we took note of all the marks distinguishing it from the American alligators we'd seen elsewhere. The Everglades are unique and our time there was very fulfilling.
There are several productive birding areas just outside the park, and our time there paid off as well. We had several looks at Short-tailed Hawks, both light and dark morph birds. This species is a scarce breeder in Florida and is much easier to find in winter when they concentrate in the southern tip of the peninsula. White-crowned Pigeons mostly leave for the winter, but we were treated to several stunning views of perched birds, something a bit out of character for this normally secretive species. One of the trip highlights came when a very responsive Barred Owl landed on a wire right next to us in broad daylight and gave us mind-blowing views for several minutes before finally moving on. A flock of flycatchers one evening was a real bonus, as it was made up of 11 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and a Western Kingbird! And what tour would be complete without a trip to the dump? Some mitigation wetlands near the Dade County dump were just full of birds, giving us great looks at American White Pelicans and American Avocets among others.
On our last morning of birding we tore ourselves away from Starbucks long enough to find an obliging pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls. They gave us just enough time for everyone to get a scope view, then they departed, and soon after so did we. It was a highly successful relaxed and easy weekend of birding in some of the best weather to be found in North America in January.