Paynes Prairie State Preserve, Gainesville, Monday, May 6

I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that Nanday Parakeet is the seventh new bird for my ABA Area list, making my total 797.  It is officially a new Life Bird, even though I saw it first in the early 2000's in Florida near Loxahatchee NWR.  Back then as Black-hooded Parakeet, it was officially still an introduced species, not officially on the list.

Paynes Prairie State Preserve is very close to my motel near Gainesville and is perhaps the most southern breeding area for Mississippi Kite in Florida.  I was not sure that the kite was back on territory, but decided to make a short visit in the morning to try for Mississippi Kite.  The most likely area, according to A Birders Guide to Florida by Bill Pranty, 1996 Edition, American Birding Association, Inc.,  was La Chua Trail on the north side.  I arrived at abut 8:30 am and started down the trail.  The first part of the trail is wooded.  As soon as I got to the edge of the trees, I found Blue Grosbeak, a new bird for the year.  I walked to the end of the boardwalk and on to the grassy trail with a lady who was a relatively new birder and newly retired from the navy.  We met while she was enjoying a Red-shouldered Hawk being harassed by Blue Jays.  There were a lot of migrating Bobolinks on the prairie, as well as Indigo Buntings, which breed there, as well as long-legged waders, Snowy Egrets and Great Blue Herons.  There is a Great Blue Heron rookery visible from a viewing platform near the rim area.  There were fly-by White Ibis and a Wood Stork flew over near the end  of my stay.  Along the grassy dikes beyond the boardwalk, we found Common Moorhen and a Great White Heron, a sub-species of Great Blue Heron.  This is not a new species for the list, but is an interesting white morph of the Great Blue Heron, normally seen only in Florida.  I have seen this only once or twice before; thus, I mention a bird not to be counted on my Big year List.  See photos.

The first photo shows the heavy bill and raised crest feathers and dark on the upper mandible of a Great Blue Heron, a different bill than that of the similar Great Egret.  The second photo shows the yellow legs of the Great White Heron, a distinguishing field mark, because Great Egret has black legs.  When this bird flew, it called like a Great Blue Heron, another distinguishing field mark.
    
I met Mike Mannetz, a local expert birder, who has written a bird guide to the Gainesville area, on the trail.  He indicated that the Mississippi Kites should be back and that scanning the sky near the north area of the trail, the rim, would be a good strategy.  Mike also helped to solve a mystery.  He provided the name of the man I met at Key West Tropical and Botanical Garden, who was also looking for the female Western Spindalis.  The man was Lloyd Davis, who eventually got to see the Western Spindalis.  Congratulations, Lloyd,.....this just in case, you are a reader.  Mike also told me that a Kirkland's Warbler was found yesterday near Gainesville.  He took my cell phone number just in case it was still being seen.  If I did not hear from him, the Kirkland's Warbler was not present on Monday.  I never got a call, but thanks, Mike, for the thought. 

In the last hour or so, I stayed near the north end of the trail where I could view the sky above the wooded area for soaring or flying Mississippi Kite.   I did not find a
Mississippi Kite.  Later in the day is probably better for this bird.  It was quite cool, in the high 60's, and I saw no dragon flies and heard no cicadas, common prey insects for Mississippi Kites, until I got back in the wooded part of the trail, where I saw a few dragon flies and heard a cicada.

As I waked to the parking area, Brown Thrasher, Northern Parula and Yellow-billed Cuckoo were singing.  I left the La Chua Trail area at about 10:30 am. 

Blue Grosbeak makes the total, 392. 

It was a 11-12 hour drive to Cincinnati from Gainesville.  I arrived home at 11:30 pm.  The only problem encountered was a heavy rainstorm near Lexington, KY.  To keep alert during the drive, I kept track of the birds I saw in each state during daylight hours.  Only three hours of the drive were after dark.   

Fuller Park, St. Petersburg, and Hernando Beach, Sunday, May 5

I arrived at Walter Fuller Park in St. Petersburg at about 1:00 pm to look for Nanday Parakeet, previously named Black-hooded Parakeet.  I had found a message on the internet on BRDBRAIN, one of the Florida Birding list serves, from January 6, 2013 stating that Fuller Park in St, Petersburg is reliable for Nanday Parakeets behind the pool in the tall trees.   I parked in the shade along a street near the soccer fields and walked into the park to find the pool.  It was not a long walk around the lake to get to the pool.  I first found the front entry to the pool in order to verify which side was the back, and then walked behind the pool to find the tall trees.  From a distance,  I could not see any Nandays but they were up in the canopy under the leaves to be out of the sun.  Many species of parrots and parakeets do this during the hot part of the day.  There were at least eight Nandays in singles, pairs and triplets perched in one tree.   See photos. 
The second photo shows three birds in a clump with two preening each other and the third bird preening itself.  I took a break to find a toilet facility in the park.  When I returned, it sounded like a much larger group of Nanday Parakeets present, at least 20 to 25 in additional trees.  I enjoyed watching the Nanday Parakeets for about 30 minutes and then I left Fuller Park to explore Fort Desoto Park.  I had never been to Fort Desoto Park and wanted to see if there were any shorebirds present.  Unfortunately, it was a weekend and Sunday, so the park was full of beach lovers, boaters and fisherman.  I did find some shorebird habitat at East Beach with a few Dunlin, 6 to 8 Willets and one Semipalmated Plover.  A small flock of shorebirds approached the area but turned away due to all the human presence and activity.  The flock landed further down the beach and included about four Short-billed Dowitchers.  None of these are new birds for the year.  Further out in the bay, some flats were exposed, on which there were several Black-bellied Plovers and a single Marbled

Godwit.  I left Fort Desoto Park and headed toward Hernando Beach to look for the Budgerigars.  I arrived at Gulf Winds Circle at about 5:30 pm and found a single Budgerigar on a bird feeder by about 6:00 pm.  See photos below.  I stayed until about 6:30 pm, hoping that more Budgies would show up but none did.  I then headed for I-75 to start driving north toward home with a potential stop in the Gainesville area on the way to try for Mississippi Kite.  I was too tired to drive the whole way back to Cincinnati without a good night of sleep. 

The Nanday Parakeet and Budgerigar make the total 391.

 

 

 

        

Black-faced Grasquit,YES!, Saturday, May 4

I left Port Charlotte at 4:45 am and drove to the Fort Lauderdale area, Stirling Road, to pick up breakfast on the fly, and then headed south to Bill Baggs.  When I arrived shortly after 8:00 am, there was a long line of about 25 cars waiting to pay the fee for entry.  I finally arrived at No Name Harbour parking area at about 8:30 am.  There were lots of birders lined up along the bike path near the white gate.  The bird had not yet been seen.  Paul Bithorn was back again to try for this bird.    Larry Manfredi was there with his tour group.  Bob Wallace, from Gainesville, whom I met in New Jersey at the Pink-footed Goose, was also there.  There were warbler flocks flying all over.  What a difference between Thursday and Saturday.  A major fall-out had occurred.  There was a lot of excitement near the white gate at the bike path.  A Connecticut Warbler was sighted, and everyone rushed there to see it, but few did apparently including me.  Eventually, as 9:00 am was approaching, the Black-faced Grassquit was seen briefly and photographed by Bob Wallace in a sea grape in the Boy Scout area behind the white gate at the bike path.  Only a few people got to see it, but everyone was there.   Everyone scattered again looking all over.  Sometime between 9:00 and 10:00 am, the Black-faced Grassquit was seen along the path behind the white gate at the bike path in a different sea grape.  Eventually, the Black-faced Grassquit was found again in the sea grape in the Boy Scout area,  the same sea grape where it was first found, but this time out in the open, on a low hanging branch.  Almost everyone got to see it well.  It flew back deeper into the tree and disappeared but reappeared on a sea grape flower out in the open with large sea grape leaves as a background.  It was feeding on the flowers of the sea grape.  See photos below.  Both photos show the grassquit with a

flower in its beak. That's a life bird for me, number 796, and obviously a great new bird for the year.  This assumes that the bird will be accepted by the Florida Bird Records Committee as a wild bird and not a caged escapee, which Florida birders that I asked believe will happen.  On Friday. Larry Manfredi corrected the original identification from female to immature male Black-faced Grassquit.  Just in case readers do not know, Larry Manfredi is an expert on South Florida and Bahama birds and birding, and a really good guy.  The details about the new identification can be found on Tropical Audubon

Society Bird Board and Larry's web page.  Just as I was about the leave the area where I had photographed the Black-faced Grassquit, it flew into a sea grape branch at ground level not more than 10 feet from me.  I alerted the other birders and we enjoyed it one more time.  At about 11:00 am, I was walking toward my car to try to find a birder from Oregon to ask him the specifics about where he found the Budgerigar.  He saw it at a house with feeders.  He shared the information with me that came from Ron Smith, an expert birder in the St. Petersburg-Tampa area.  However, Ron did not post it to the internet, so I will not reveal the location on my blog.   As I was walking toward my car again this time to prepare to leave, some birders told me and another birder that Larry Manfredi's birding tour group had a Connecticut Warbler near the grill.  We walked quickly there and found the group.  They had  the Connecticut Warbler in a corner of the woods behind the grill along the paved path.  I was able to get an identifiable look at the bird as it walked along the ground near a mound of soil.  I could see the olive colored upper-parts, yellow under-parts and the light gray hood, as well as the elongated and slender profile.  I could barely see the top of the eye-ring.  However, Mourning Warbler which I have seen multiple times, does not have the same elongated and slender profile, and does not walk like a Connecticut Warbler.   The hood of a Morning Warbler is not the same color of gray as a Connecticut Warbler.  There is no doubt that this was a Connecticut Warbler and not a Mourning Warbler.  This time period is the optimum time for Connecticut Warbler in this part of Florida, according to the Florida birders present.  I stayed another couple of hours to try for a better look at a Connecticut Warbler, but without luck.  That's not surprising.  I have seen Connecticut Warbler several times in Ohio at Magee Marsh during migration.  One usually does not get multiple chances to see Connecticut Warbler during migration.  They are very secretive.  I left Bill Baggs at about 4:00 pm and drove to the West Coast of Florida to stay the night.  On the way to Port Charlotte, I stopped at Fort Meyers Beach to look for shorebirds near the Holiday Inn.  However, the tide was not low.  I saw a beautiful Roseate Spoonbill and a nearly breeding plumage Black-bellied Plover.

The Black-faced Grassquit and Connecticut Warbler make the total 389.

Next I will try for Nanday Parakeet and Budgerigar, and then the long drive home for the next phase.

West Coast of Florida, Jay Gets His Jay, Friday, May 3

My first target species for the west coast of Florida are Bachman's Sparrow and Red-cockaded Woodpecker at Fred C. Babcock and Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management area and Florida Scrub jay at Oscar Scherer State Park.  I left my motel in Fort Lauderdale at 4:45 am.  It is about 162 mile and a 2.5 hour drive to Punta Gorda, which is slightly north of Babcock-Webb WMA.  My goal was to arrive early in the morning while the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are still near the The roads in this area are called grades.  I should have been there at just after sunrise or between 6:30 and 7:00 am.  I should have left Ft. Lauderdale at 4:00 am.  My mind was strong but my body was weak.  I stayed in the area of the nearest RCWO cluster for about an hour.   There were a number of trees marked with a painted white ring circling their trunks and there are at least two trees with the man-made hole protectors that had red-ribbons tied around the trunks.  I found no RCWO.  I drove north toward the second RCWO cluster along Tram Grade after the turn off of Oilwell Grade with the windows down listening for Bachman's Sparrows singing.  I found four different Bachman's Sparrows singing their beautiful song in an area with grass growing below widely separated pines and in an area which had recently been burned.  I did not hear any Bachman's Sparrows singing in areas with dense palmetto under the pines.  The song of Bachman's Sparrow is distinctive usually starting with two slower introductory notes and ending with a sweet trill, and is quite variable.  The same bird seems to change the song every time it sings.  Bachman's Sparrows are often difficult to see.  They may be singing from a low perch or up in the trees;  therefore, one needs to look everywhere.  I looked for a while but could not find the singing birds.  I have seen and photographed a Bachman's Sparrow singing from a perch on a branch up in a tree on a previous visit to Babcock-Webb WM  There was no doubt that these were Bachman's Sparrows, a new bird for the year.  I compared the song to the song on the internet.  I tried playing the recording briefly but it did not help attract the birds from their territory.  I did not find RCWO at the second RCWO cluster.  I will need to try for RCWO this evening before leaving the area. 

I left Babcock-Webb WMA and drove north to Oscar Scherer State park to look for Florida Scrub Jay, arriving at Oscar Scherer SP just after 2:00 pm, not the optimum time to be birding.  The attendant at the gate told me that I should head toward the Nature Center and the Green Trail.  I headed out the Green Trail, on which I have previously seen Florida Scrub Jay on a previous visit,  and walked the two mile loop, but found no Florida Scrub Jays.  When I returned to the Nature Center, I discovered that it was already closed.  I should have checked there first to find out the best current place to find the jays.  I met a lady with a camera, who said that she had seen and photographed one earlier in the afternoon, but admitted it was a poor photograph.  It was indeed a Florida Scrub jay sitting on a power line.  I walked to the area where she saw it, but found no jay.  I met a park ranger and asked him if he knew where the best place was to find the jays.  He gave me several locations, and I checked out several.  But he thought the best location was on the Green Trail near the picnic tables where the birds were accustomed to people who were viewing the eagle's nest in the winter.  I was getting close to 4:00 pm and birding should improve from now on.  I walked the Green Trail toward the picnic table.  On the trail, I saw a Gopher Tortoise, one of the specialties of this park.  See photo.  
As I got closer to the picnic bench,  I saw a long- tailed bird sitting up on a dead snag.   It looked like a Florida Scrub Jay from a distance, but I needed to eliminate Northern Mockingbird, another long-tailed bird that will also sit up on a snag.  The bird flew down and then returned to a different perch.   There were no large white wing patches and no white in the tail.  It was a

Florida Scrub Jay.  I got close for a better look and managed a few distant photos, which show the field marks.  It was about 5:00 pm when I finally saw the Florida Scrub Jay, a new bird for the year.  I returned to my car and had a snack.  There was enough time left to return to Babcock-Webb WMA to wait for the RCWO to return to the nesting cluster.  I arrived at the nearest cluster on Oilwell Grade at about 6:00 pm and waited.  At about 6:30 pm, I started hearing the distinctive calls of Red-cockaded

Woodpecker.  They sound a little like the call notes of European Starlings.  As the sun set, the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers got more active.  There were at least two pairs present, but perhaps more.  When they were not flying around and calling, they often sat quietly on the trunk of a tree.  Sometimes, I could hear them tapping as the pecked the bark looking for food and could locate them by the tapping.  I managed a few poor photos.  See photos.  The RCWO insisted on being on the west side of the road, so viewing and photography was into the setting sun, a poor condition for photography and viewing.  Sometime between 7:00 and &:30 pm a car drove up with a man and woman who were obviously birders.  They were from Cincinnati,  

OH, having retired from AK Steel in Middletown, OH and moved to Coral Gables.  They had not become birders until they moved to Florida.  They knew Matt Stenger from the Cincinnati area,  who had done a Big Year a few years ago.  Small world again!  They were looking for nightjars, but stayed and enjoyed the Red-cockaded Woodpeckers.   As we talked about birds, the lady mentioned that there may be King Rails in the WMA.  She gave me directions to the spot.  We said our farewells and I drove east along Tuckers Grade to a road that could not be driven, walked about 0.25 miles to an open marshy area and tried for King Rail using a tape recorder, but got no response. 

My sister Cynthia's solar powered flashlight came in handy again on the walk back to my car.  Chuck-wills-widows were calling all over the area.  When I walked into the area, one was very close to me right along the road.

Bachman's Sparrow, Florida Scrub Jay and Red-cockaded Woodpecker make the total 387.

At Oscar Scherer SP after seeing the Florida Scrub Jay, I had checked the Tropical Audubon Society Bird Board and discovered that the Black-faced Grassquit is still present at Bill Baggs!  It was seen several times and quite cooperative.  My apologies to the man who reported having seen the bird on Thursday and whose report I doubted.   He apparently did see the bird.  I had concluded after Thursday that the Black-faced Grassquit had quit the area (pun intended).  I need to try for this bird one more time.  It is a lifer for me and too good a bird to leave behind.  I am losing time but may gain a great new species. I was too tired to drive back to the east coast on Friday night.  I found a nearby motel in Port Charlotte.  The plan is to get up very early and drive to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.      
      

Black-faced Grassquit Search, Wednesday, May 1 and Thursday, May 2

On Wednesday, I awoke to heavy rain in Fort Lauderdale.  I stayed in my room and updated my blog with the great day on Tuesday.  I saw the internet posting about the Black-faced Grassquit at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, and decided that I needed to try for it.  Black-faced Grassquit is a Life Bird for me and obviously a great new bird for the year.  I had a late, very large breakfast and lunch combined which would hold me until a late dinner on Wednesday night.  I arrived at Bill Baggs at about 1:00 pm.  I met Gaylee and Dick Dean and a man and wife from Canada.  This man from Canada was on Don Wilkerson's Birding Tour and had photographed the Western Spindalis from behind at the Botanical Gardens where I met him before.  The man from Canada had seen and photographed the Black-faced Grassquit.  Gaylee had seen the bird about three times during the morning and early afternoon and had seen the bird about an hour before I arrived.  The man from Canada and his wife left.  Gaylee, Dick and I continued to search continuously throughout the area.  Dick had not seen the Black-faced Grassquit.  Gaylee had seen it low along the entry road to No Name Key toward the harbor from the white gate.  It seemed to be following a female Common Yellowthroat.  Rangel Diaz arrived at about 2:15 pm.  I have seen his postings on the Tropical Miami Bird Board.  He had seen it in the morning between the Nature Trail and the white gate.  I asked him about the provenance of this bird.  He thought it would be accepted by the Florida Bird Records committee.  Black-faced Grassquit,  especially a female, is not as likely to be a caged bird as Yellow-faced Grassquit.  Rangel left at about 3:40 pm.  Later I also met Brian Rapoza and thanked him for all of his work on the Tropical Audubon Society website.  The TAS site is a great resource and is used by many out of state birders.  I told Brian that it is a great resource, which he appreciated hearing.  Brian also echoed the same opinion about the provenance of the Black-faced Grassquit.

I was the last birder present.  The Dean's left earlier, saying that they would be back in the morning.  I stayed until about 7:00 pm and needed to decide if I would return on Thursday.  I had seen many of the same warblers this time at Bill Baggs that I had seen last Monday--Black and White Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Blue Warbler, American Redstart, and Blackpoll Warbler (this time a female) as well as Gray Kingbird.  I returned to Fort Lauderdale to stay the night, and decided to try again at least during the morning for the Black-faced Grassquit.

I arrived at 8:30 am on Thursday just after the park opened.  I had picked up breakfast and was eating my oatmeal as I walked from the parking lot toward the white gate.  I met Paul Bithorn and another local birder, whose name I did not learn.  Paul is a well known birder in the Miami area, and a birding tour leader.  Later Toe, another local expert birder showed up.  I met Barbara Chouinard from Canada, who I had met earlier on Don Wilkinson's Birding Tour, and who had e-mailed me.  She was with three other women from Canada still birding in south Florida.  We all looked very hard for the Black-faced Grassquit but did not find it.  Gradually, the other birders left except for the Dean's and me.  Another man who had showed up later in the morning told us at 2:00 pm that he had seen the bird at 1:00 pm along the path behind the white gate.  However, he asked about the identification features, so I was left with the impression that he was not sure.  I wish he had let us know right after he saw it, so we might have had a chance to see it also.  We looked intensively along the bike path in the spot to which he saw it fly.  No luck.

Later, I met Ron Furnish and his lady from Virginia Beach.  He is working full time and doing a reduced Big Year.  Ron had sent me an e-mail on March 4.  He is originally from Cincinnati and goes back every year for Opening Day (Reds baseball).  His god mother worked for a P&G CEO, so living in Cincinnati and the P&G connection are in common for us as well as birding.  Ron is ahead of me in numbers, 415+, (He got a Gray kingbird at Bill Baggs.) because he was just at High Island and has been to Arizona.  At high Island, Ron had met my friends, Isaac and Patty from Austin, Texas.  Isaac is doing a Photography Big Year.

I left Bill Baggs at 4:00 pm as a heavy rain storm started.  I did not see the Black-faced Grassquit.  I need to move on and get additional birds in Florida and then leave Florida for other parts of the country.  The Black-faced Grassquit is the first significant rarity that I tried for and missed.  Perhaps, it will stay and show up again later.  However, I am running out of time to be able to complete some other trips and also get to Magee Marsh in northern Ohio during the spring migration and before I leave for Alaska.  I drove through very heavy rain north.  I was originally planning to head to the west coast of Florida tonight.  However, the significant traffic delays due to rush hour, the heavy rain and the fact that I started to feel quite tired, made me decide to stay in Fort Lauderdale, go to bed early and leave in the wee hours of the morning.  The significant flooding that I encountered in Fort Lauderdale also played a part.  Shortly after I post this entry, I will be on my way to the Punta Gorda area on the west coast of Florida.

No new birds to report.        
        

Black Point Park One Last Time and Baptist Hospital Area, Tuesday, April 30

I awoke in the wee hours and could not get back to sleep, so I updated my blog.  However, I left before sunrise to head to Black Point Park.  I stopped at a McDonalds on the way to pick up breakfast.  I arrived at the parking area at the canoe launch at about 6:45 am.  I was still using an electronic call cautiously, but became convinced that this is a useless technique.  Read on.  I walked the parking area from the wooden bridge to the circle at the south end and them back north to the entrance to the parking area.  Nothing.  Then I returned to the wooden bridge and walked across to the paved path that follows the boat channel.  I walked south to almost the end of the paved path and last tried the electronic song at a bench.  Finally, I gave up using the electronic song.  I wasn't working, so I reverted to my standard technique of watching and listening.

About 50 -75 feet north of the end of the paved path, I heard a soft short guttural sound and looked up to see a Mangrove Cuckoo sitting in the open and looking at me.  Soon a second bird appeared nearby and flew over next to the first and mounted her copulating for a few seconds and then sat beside her and offering a worm during copulation and after.   See photos below.

The first is is the female, who was pumping her tail up and down before the male joined her.  The male mounted her offering a worm to her (second and third photos).  Then he sat beside her still offering the worm.  This was such a fantastic experience that I am showing four of a long series of shots.  I took these using the "T" setting and adjusted the exposure and shadows on the originals which were in focus but quite dark.  I enjoyed these birds, taking pictures, quietly.  These birds appeared to be unaffected by my presence.  I believe that my focus on the

electronic call caused me to be not as focused on quiet sounds of this contact call.  I heard it several times.  I left them in peace, totally convinced that the electronic media had nothing to do with this sighting.  Actually, electronic calls and songs are likely harmful to other birders who follow, because the birds grow accustomed and silent.  I returned to my car and started breakfast.  When I was partway through my oatmeal, Bill Doyle and his wife drove up.  I told them I had just seen the birds and where, so they parked and headed south on the paved path.  After I had finished my oatmeal, I joined them. 

They had not found the cuckoos but were south of the area where I had seen them.  We returned to the spot where I had seen them, and Bill found them again.  No electronic media.  Just good birding skills, watching and listening.  We heard the soft contact call again.  What a great morning and more to come!  By the way, for the non-birders reading this, Mangrove Cuckoo can be a real nemesis bird.  I met lots of people on this trip who looked but did not find them.  

The French connection guys had shared a  location for Red-whiskered Bulbuls.  They

called me on Sunday morning to let me know that they had not seen the Mangrove Cuckoos at Black Point Park and were at a Bulbul location.  They gave me the address, so I shared it with Bill and his wife.  

After the excitement of the Mangrove Cuckoos, I headed to the area around the Baptist Hospital in Kendall, and first to SW 82 Avenue and SW 89 Terrace east of the hospital to look for the bulbuls.  There is a fountain in the front yard of the house at 8901 SW 82 Avenue.  The bulbuls are in the vicinity of this location.  Bill and his wife we already there when I arrived, because I finished breakfast before leaving Black Point Park.   Bill and his wife and I walked around the area looking for but not finding the bulbuls.  This was their last day birding so they left to go elsewhere.

The man who lives in the house with the fountain was outside to I walked up to him and told him why people where there.  I think he appreciated it.  He was a nice guy of Cuban origin who lived in Tennessee but was at his daughter's house helping her take care of his grandsons during tax time when she was very busy with her business.     Eventually, I left and drove to areas behind/south of the Baptist hospital  where I had seen bottle bush trees in bloom.  Spot-breasted Orioles like to feed on these blossoms and can be found in the sometimes.  No luck with the orioles.  I drove to the entrance to Kendallwood, at SW 82 Street and SW 87 Avenue, where Red-whiskered Bulbuls had been reported by the Tropical Audubon Society (TAS) Key West and Dry Tortugas Tour as well as two Spot-breasted Orioles.  This report was on the Tropical Audubon Bird Board.  First, I drove slowly around the Kendallwood neighborhood to check the habitat first and looked for birds flying of sitting on power lines.  Soon, after arriving at Kendallwood, it began to rain really hard, so hard that it was hard to see to drive, a real torrential downpour.  I left the area and found a McDonalds to use the bathroom and also got a Mango Pineapple Smoothie,  I returned to Kendallwood drove the area again but the rain started up again.  When it slowed, I stopped by the nearby spot at SW 82 Avenue and SW 89 Terrace to try for bulbuls.  The rain stopped briefly and the sun was peeping through the clouds.  I walked west on SW 89 Street nearby.  Some smaller birds with longer tails flew into the trees around the second house from the corner on the north side.  I heard the song of Red-whiskered Bulbul and found one bird sitting high in the tree.  It was 11:45 am.  The two other bulbuls flew north and landed in the back of a tree in the back yard of this house.  However, I looked for but never found them again by walking along an interior street along North Kendall Boulevard and looking into this tree that was visible between houses.  It started to rain again, so I went to the McDonalds and had a grilled chicken salad for lunch.

I returned to Kendallwood, and found a tour group of birders parked one block east of the entrance.  It was Wes Biggs leading a tour from Houston Audubon.  They were looking for the Red-whiskered Bulbuls at the same location reported by the TAS Tour.  I shared information about the spot where I saw the bulbuls.  They left for lunch, and I drove around the neighborhood looking for likely spots for Spot-breasted Oriole.  At SW 89 Avenue between SW 83 and SW 82 Streets, I found a Spot-breasted Oriole low in a tree with large open pink flowers.  There was a tree house in this tree and a blooming bottle brush tree nearby as well as other flowering bushes right along the street and in the back-yard.   The bird flew east toward a house on SW 83 Street with a large bush covered with bright red flowers.  I turned right on SW 82 Street and drove slowly east.  The oriole, I am assuming the same one, flew north and landed in the top of a palm tree right by the road.  I managed a few photos, one of which shows the large white wing bar very well and the spots on the breast, whence its name.  See photo below.  I called Wes Biggs and gave him the information about the oriole.

Having succeeded in my quest for the cuckoo, bulbul and oriole, I decided to try for the White-tailed Kite.  It was a last minute thought, while I was already driving north on Florida Turnpike toward Wakodahatchee Wetlands to try for Purple Gallinule, which I had tried for at Loxahatchee NWR but missed twice.  I took a rather convoluted path to get to the Chekika unit of the Everglades NP.  It would have been easier if I had just gone west on N. Kendall Drive to 997 and south to Richmond.  However, I made it in a more convoluted path too long to discuss.  I did not find the White-tailed Kites.   A storm was brewing to he west and the sky was darkening, and it was getting late nearly 5:00 pm when I arrived.  That's probably why I did not find the kites. 
There was still enough time to continue north to Wakodahatchee Wetland for Purple Gallinule.  I arrived a few minutes before 7:00 pm.  I had 45 minutes to find the birds.  The wetlands close at 7:45 pm.  Within 10 to 15 feet of the point where the boardwalk meets the edge of the wetland, there were four Purple Gallinules in the same vegetation clump.   It required only about a minute to find the Purple Gallinules.  See photo of two of the four and one which shows the very large feet and toes.  The light was getting low for photography, and these photos were adjusted to remove shadows.

I left Wakodathatchee Wetland and drove south to Fort Lauderdale to stay the night, Tomorrow, unless a great rarity shows up, I head for the west coast of Florida.



Mangrove Cuckoo, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Spot-breasted Oriole and Purple gallinule makes the total 384.

Key West Botanical Gardens Again, Monday, April 30

I arrived at about 11:00 am and met a man, who was visiting family and his grand kids with his wife, and was looking for the female Western Spindalis during his visit.  He was focusing his effort near the gate, where a woman had seen the bird early before opening time.  He mentioned that he had seen a Short-tailed Hawk in the area, and I shared my experience with him about yesterday and the Short-tailed Hawk.  We decided to separate to increase coverage, agreeing to let each other know if we saw the Spindalis.  I checked out the fig tree near the Yoga Pavilion and a nearby gumbo limbo tree with berries, but could not find the Spindalis.  I walked toward the bridge over the pond and the butterfly garden.  There I met Jim Gessaman from Tuscon, AZ, originally from Dayton , OH, and Wilson Baker from Tallahassee. They had met Carl Goodrich, the expert Key West birder, at Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, who told them that he had seen the Spindalis about 22 times at the butterfly garden in the gumbo limbo tree just before the bridge toward the visitor center.   Both Jim and Wilson had graduated form Richmond College in Indiana, not far from Cincinnati.  Bill Buskirk has been a professor there and  has given programs about birds to the Cincinnati Bird Club.  It is a small world.

I saw a bunting sized bird with olive colored upper-parts fly through the garden and enter a near-by tree.  We looked the tree over carefully but could only find a Gray Kingbird.  That bird was a good possibility, and I suspect that it was the Spindalis, but it disappeared.  Then a few warblers, a vireo and another non-descript bird flew into the gumbo limbo tree.  Either Jim or Wilson said, "I think that bird is the Spindalis."  We all got on it, and it was indeed the female Western Spindalis.  Depending upon the lighting, the eye-line and the whitish throat was not very obvious.  It really is a non-descript bird, unlike the male Western Spindalis, which I have seen twice before.  However, the wing bars and whitish feather edgings were quite apparent.  The Western Spindalis stayed in the lower hanging branch of the gumbo limbo tree for a few minutes.  I tried to get a photograph, but could not find the bird in my lens.  The Spindalis flew south east to a tree along the pond with a red berry in its beak and promptly disappeared or kept flying through toward an area north of the Yoga Pavilion.  Soon after the Spindalis sighting, I walked back toward the parking lot to try to find the other birder but could not find him.  Jim and Wilson shared information about finding the White-tailed Kite near the Chekika unit of Everglades NP.  We parted ways. 

Later, I found the man Florida birder (sorry seem to have misplaced the card with his name) who was with a lady birder, Ann, and passed along the information that we saw the Spindalis at 12:45 -12:50 pm in the gumbo limbo tree near the bridge at the butterfly garden.  I also wrote that information on the map at the desk in the visitor center.  Soon it began to rain heavily, a real gulley washer.  We went to the visitor center to wait out the rain.  When the rain slowed, I got my umbrella out of the car, and joked that the orange and white color might attract the Spindalis.  It soon began to rain harder, so we returned to the visitor center.  Eventually, the man and Ann left.  I stayed to try for a photo of the Spindalis and found a Black-whiskered Vireo singing its repetitive "chir-ip chir-ip."   I was not able to find the Western Spindalis again and left the park at closing time to head north.  I decided to stop a Sugar Loaf Key-Saddlebunch Key Area to try for the Mangrove Cuckoo.

I decided to cautiously use the recorded Mangrove Cuckoo call, which includes two songs in the longer version of the recording found on the Florida Ornithological site.  I usually do not use recordings, preferring to find birds without electronic recordings, by listening and looking.  I have found that to be quite successful.  I am not really comfortable with using the recording for the Mangrove Cuckoo, because it eventually causes the birds to not respond.  I played the recording twice at widely spaced intervals as I walked along the road from the bridge entering Saddlebunch Key to the end.  I moved my car and walked in both directions from the car and back, not playing the recording on my return to the car.  I got no response on the Mangrove Cuckoo, not too surprising given the popularity of this spot and the heavy use of electronic songs and calls.  However, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo seemed to respond and called.  I found two more Black-whiskered Vireos singing on Saddlebunch Key.  As I was walking along the road, two local man and wife Florida birders stopped.  They mentioned that they had never found Mangrove Cuckoo at Saddlebunch, live nearby and are frequently on this road. Despite its fame, Saddlebunch Key did not produce a Mangrove Cuckoo.  They told me of another nearby spot accessible by turning right at Mangrove Mammas, going beyond the KOA campground and walking the road to the right.  I tried this and walked about 0.5 to 1.0 miles along this road, but the habitat did not seem right.  It was dry in this area and not wet with mangroves.  I found a lot of White-crowned Pigeons on this road. 

I left and headed north to Homestead to stay the night.  My plan was to be at Black Point Park close to sunrise to try one last time for Mangrove Cuckoo.

Western Spindalis, Black-whiskered Vireo and Yellow-billed Cuckoo make the total 380.