Well, I’m wrapping up 2 weeks in the Florida Keys, and although it has been a delightful vacation, the birding has been surprisingly slow. I didn’t expect much in terms of migration in the last week of Feb and first week of March, but I thought that there would be more wintering passerines here.
The mangrove stands, the small pine and mixed hardwood and hardwood hammocks that remain, and neighborhoods are surprisingly devoid of birds. The species that seem to thrive in proximity to people seem present, like N. Mockingbird, Eurasian Collared Dove, and to a lesser degree Palm Warbler, RW Blackbird and N. Cardinal are pretty prevalent, but overall surprisingly few birds.
My warbler list is thin. Small numbers of Palm warblers most places, Prairie warblers in wet mangrove areas, and one of two Black-and-white, Black-throated , Myrtle’s Yellow-rumped, and Ovenbird completes my warbler list in the Keys. At the everglades I saw Pine Warblers in the pine forests and one N. Waterthrush, but otherwise nothing. I expected to N. Parula (in fairness they are being reported).
Marian and I took an overnight trip to the Everglades. She has never been there, and it is where Kay and I want and I cought the “birding bug.” One of the places really dear to my heart. We had a great day, and on the morning after visiting the park, and after I got my lifer RMPA, we drove out the Tamiani Hwy Rte 41 and took a short airboat ride. Marian then felt like she had seen the Everglades she expected.
That said, it’s been a blast staying here. Mikuláš ŘimánekI like the Blue Hole trail here on Big Pine Tree, and especially the Bahia-Honda State Park. At the latter is a good beach for shorebirds, with lots of Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstones, a few Lesser Sandpipers, and we also saw a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Common Ground Dove, and a few other fun birds. In Key West we birded the Botanical Gardens one day, slow but interesting place, and the Fort Zachery Taylor SP another day. Both enjoyable, but not terribly birdy.
Would I come back. For sure for the overall great weather and to get out of the WA winter rain and cold, but less so for the birding this time of year.
One more day here before we head to Miami and then on to Costa Rica.
Of note, I talked with Mikuláš Řimánek, a Czech Republic birder that I met when he was in WA as a Rotary Exchange student a few years ago for an upcoming episode of the podcast. I got excited about how much success he has had encouraging and mentoring young birders in his country.