Trip to southern Florida -Jan 20-27

Prairie Warbler with leg band, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 26, 2024

After my time in the Bahamas I took a short flight over to Miami to meet up with Sherri and continue the vacation with a few days in the Florida Keys followed by a few more days on Key Biscayne. After leaving from one of the smallest airports I have ever flown out of I had one of the shortest flights on a jet I have ever had with just a little over a half hour of flying time. After meeting up in Miami, getting some food and driving south we made it to Tavernier and our lodging for the next four nights. On the way down a stop off for food south of Miami proved fruitful with the sighting of three Mitred Parakeets, an established exotic and a new life species for me, number 1996. Not much birding otherwise as we got settled in on a warm, breezy day. 

Black throated Green Warbler, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Park, Key Largo, FL, Jan 21, 2024

Yellow throated Vireo, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Park, Key Largo, FL, Jan 21, 2024

Red breasted Merganser, Old Settlers Park, Tavernier, FL, Jan 21, 2024

Magnolia Warbler, Old Settlers Park, Tavernier, FL, Jan 21, 2024

Blue headed Vireo, Old Settlers Park, Tavernier, FL, Jan 21, 2024

Sunday was another breezy day and quite cool to start (mid 50’s so not terrible and a whole lot better than home where the temps were in the single digits with a strong wind). I drove north and arrived before sunrise at Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical SP.   Although the area had lots of reports of good birds and the habitat looked great and was extensive, the bird activity was very low. I spent over two hours in the hopes I would eventually find some birds with very little luck. I then decided to head back south to check out a very small park in Tavernier called Old Settlers Park. Although a tiny place it proved to have much more activity and I had about the same number of species there as I had at my first stop and covered just a fraction of the same amount of territory. I had seven species of warblers (including a Magnolia Warbler), a couple vireo species and others. Always amazing what small parks can hold for birds. By late morning we decided to try John Pennekamp Coral Reef SP and this place was even more devoid of birds than my morning stop at the location just north. Perhaps the lateness of the visit and the crowds kept activity low. I had just eight species in an hour! The remainder of the day was spent outside at our lodging enjoying the warm weather. 

Yellow rumped Warbler 'myrtle', Old Settlers Park, Tavernier, FL, Jan 22, 2024

Julia, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Park, Key Largo, FL, Jan 22, 2024

On Monday I headed a short distance south to a small park in Islamorada called Plantation Hammock Preserve. Again some decent habitat and again nearly devoid of birds. The continued windy conditions certainly didn’t help. After nearly an hour there I left there and headed back to Old Settlers Park that was fairly productive the day before. It was certainly less active than the day before but there were still some birds around. I then headed back to our lodging for a short time and then we headed up to Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Park and walked a variety of trails and found the park to be very quiet once again. By midday we headed back to our lodging to head out onto Florida Bay with kayaks. 

Little Blue Heron, Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, Tavernier, FL, Jan 23, 2024

White Ibis, Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, Tavernier, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Palm Warbler 'western', Old Settlers Park, Tavernier, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Royal Tern, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Little Blue Heron, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Yellow crowned Night Heron, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Prairie Warbler, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Great Crested Flycatcher, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Dragonfly species, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

Beach, Long Key SP, Layton, FL, Jan 23, 2024

The rinse and repeat days of windy weather continued on Tuesday albeit with a bit warmer temps. I headed out before dawn trying a few nearby spots without finding anything too noteworthy. We then headed further south to Long Key SP which was also fairly quiet but did feature a few pockets of birds with a few new species for the trip. 

Northern Cardinal, Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Park, Key Largo, FL, Jan 24, 2024

Piping Plovers, Virginia Key Ecosystem Restoration Area, Miami, FL, Jan 24, 2024

Wednesday was our day to leave the keys and travel north to stay on the peninsula of Key Biscayne (near Miami) for three nights. It was yet another windy day pretty much from start to finish although it seemed to be slightly less strong. I had a few hours available in the morning and made a few stops including Plantation Hammock Preserve, Old Settlers Park and Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammocks State Botanical Park. The first two were quiet with nothing too noteworthy. The last stop was a little more productive when I had a decent mixed flock containing at least seven species of warblers, including my first Yellow Warbler I have actually had in Florida. I then headed back to pack up and start the drive north. We made one stop along the way to walk and we chose Navy Wells Pineland Preserve where we walked for about half an hour and had some typical species. As we made the long stop and go trip through the greater Miami area I was actually able to add a life bird with a Red whiskered Bulbul (another established exotic in the area)….species number 1997. We also made a short stop at Virginia Key Beach after going over the causeway where I added a few more species for the trip. 

Orange crowned Warbler, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 25, 2024

Gray Catbird, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 25, 2024

Yellow throated Warbler, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 25, 2024

Prairie Warbler, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 25, 2024

Great Crested Flycatcher, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 25, 2024

On Thursday the 25th I spent most of the day at Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP which was a just down the street from our Airbnb. Unfortunately the gates don’t open until 8AM so I had to try to find other locations to bird and had little luck finding any that were open. Once the gates opened I headed out on the trails and ran across a number of mixed species flocks. Blue gray Gnatcatchers were around in good numbers with nearly thirty present. I also had eight species of warblers including my first Orange crowned Warbler of the trip. I walked several miles between my morning stop and my afternoon stop and had nearly thirty species overall. The wind was a bit less once one got away from the beach. 

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 26, 2024

Palm Warbler 'western', Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP, Key Biscayne, FL, Jan 26, 2024

Sunrise, Crandon Park, FL, Jan 26, 2024

On the last full day I once again headed to Bill Baggs Cape Florida SP after I caught the sunrise at Crandon Park. I had a distant look at a shearwater from the beach at Crandon Park that was almost certainly an Audubon’s Shearwater. Once in Bill Baggs there was less warbler diversity during my morning trip but more species overall including a couple new ones for the trip. After a break for lunch we headed back to the park in the heat of the day to take another walk. As expected the activity was quite a bit lower so nothing unusual. Total of 86 species in Florida for the trip which is rather low.  I added three new Florida species on the trip, bringing my total to 240.  

More on the warblers of the trip at the following link.