These Barn Swallows at my kid's run group gave me a proper send off on the evening before my trip.
I usually try and stay as far away from malls as possible, but this particular mall in Miami has a some pretty cool birds that happen to be a lifer for me.
Gray-headed Swamphen at the Dolphin Mall in Miami. These awesome birds have only relatively recently been granted ABA species status.
They are truly massive birds.
Its a shame that it was high noon and the light sucked because I would have liked to properly immortalize these beasts.
Boat-tailed Grackles are huge in Florida.
Mottled Ducks at a Mall pond? Only in Florida.
Black-necked Stilts have some kind of calming effect on me. When I see them, I know that all is right in the world. Maybe it is the Ying Yang pattern.
At Long Key I began my search for the Zenaida Dove that has been hanging out for a couple months.
When this dove walked out on the trail I about pooped myself before I realized it was just a run of the mill Mourning Dove. Spoiler alert, I dipped hard on the dove. People at the park had seen the Zenaida copulating with Mourning Doves. The theory is that it is sitting on a nest and not spending nearly as much time foraging. Just my luck. On top of that, I ran into John H from Winston Salem and he said "Did you get the Cuban Vireo?" Ummm what Cuban Vireo? Apparently the day before the first ABA record of a Cuban Vireo had been found on Key West. ARGGHHHhh, it was 5pm and the drive from Long Key to Key West was probably 2 hours in the current traffic. I was on the fence but decided to stay put as I would probably dip and spend at least 4 extra hours on the road. I had no option of staying overnight as I had a business meeting next morning. I kind of wish that vireo never showed. I consoled myself with some good Florida migration birds.
The many moods of a Great Crested Flycatcher - this shot is Blue Steel.
And here - Coy Boy.
Why is it that Spotted Sandpipers in NC never have spots this nice?
Black-and-white Warbler - The biggest issue is that the warblers were too close to get decent pics with my fixed 400mm lens.
This Cape May Warbler shot is a keeper!
Black-throated Blue Warbler
When I heard this bad boy calling I immediately knew it was a Gray Kingbird. Look at the girth of that bill!
Gray Kingbird
The place was absolutely lousy with Prairie Warblers. I had to bat them out of the way to look for other birds.
This Swainson's Warblers was causing a big stir with a birding group from Massachusetts.
I was more interested with this Blackpoll Warbler. In NC, Blackpolls are usually seen in Fall and usually at the top of some massive tree. Here they were at eye level in breeding plumage.
I finally got good looks at a bird I have heard many times before - Black-whiskered Vireo. The whiskers were only evident when the bird turned its head in a certain direction.
The whiskers starting to show a bit.
Ahhh there they are.
A very neat and proper mustache!
The light was starting to fade at this time so I cranked up the ISO when I saw this stud of a Blackpoll.
I hope I can go back to South Florida some day soon and spend more than a half day. It really was a tease.
Back in Wilmington a short trip to Greenfield Lake got me nothing but some cute Canada Goslings.
At Wade Park I had to talk a Red-winged Blackbird down from a ledge.
"Don't jump man, with a set of epaulets like that I am sure you will find a mate."
This first summer Orchard Oriole was testing his bagpipes.
I keep thinking this wonderful park with the plethora of Willows will attract some cool breeding birds like maybe Yellow Warblers or Yellow-throated Vireos but so far nothing.
Saturday was Howell Woodstock! Actually I had no idea this annual festival was on when I headed over. If you have never been to Howell Woodstock, think of a countryside festival attended by salt of the earth people (hunters, farmers, naturalists and some red necks) instead of hippies. It is more of a family affair then the free love orgy that was Woodstock. Luckily I got there early enough to avoid the throngs of people and blaring music.
I ran into Peggy E and her husband at the entrance and we started off on the trail to the ethereal songs of Wood Thrushes.
It was fairly low light when I got this picture so I was happy it came out at all.
We ran into a couple of people at the Outer Slough Trail that were on a singing Swainson's Warbler that was not showing itself. They also mentioned a Kentucky was showing nicely down the trail. They didn't seem like the type of folk that would take kindly to playback so we decided to head down the trail for the Kentucky and try to get the Swainson's Warbler to pop out on the way out. Playback is a contentious issue and I don't intend to go into a philosophic rant, but if you have birded with me you know I will use it under certain circumstances but I also try and be respectful of folks that do not like it. I hope that Cornell and other orntihologists conduct some conclusive research to put to bed the assertion that playback is harmful to birds. In the mean time I will try to be judicious and respectful in my use of it.
Kentucky Warbler!! What a ham! He posed for us quite nicely.
On the way out of the trail we ran into the Cape Fear Audubon group that just had cracking views of the Swainson's Warbler. That is the biggest problem with playback, it usually only works once and so when I got my chance it was too late and the Swainson's Warbler was wise and did not show again. Oh well, I will get another chance later.
This photo is crap but it was interesting for two reasons. First off when I took the photo I had no idea there was an Indigo Bunting in it. In fact we were later searching for what we thought was our First of the Season Indigo Bunting. Secondly, when do you see such a palette of colors in one shot. Indigo Bunting on left, female Summer Tanager in middle and male Summer Tanager on right.
This was a completely different Kentucky seen later in the day.
Male Summer Tanager
The light was really harsh when we finally found this Indigo Bunting.
Prairie Warblers were thick.
Blue Grosbeaks made a couple appearances.
Prothonotaries never get old.
I did go back to the Outer Slough Trail after the Audubon Group left to see if I could get a Swainson's. No luck but the Kentucky was still hanging out.
Finally on my way out I heard the distinctive call of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo!
Life is good.
I have been scouring the calendar trying to figure out when I can finally get up to the mountains. I just don't see any possibilities with a Soccer Tournament next weekend in Charleston and Mother's Day the weekend after that. That is going to not bode well for my big year effort. Such a shame considering the streak I have been on. I guess it is my fault for convincing my wife to go back to work after 10 years as a stay at home mom. Now we have to share weekends and I can't just take off random days in the middle of the week anymore because I have to stay home and be here when the kids get out of school. The good news is the extra cash she is bringing in will let us take more extravagant vacations. We are planning Maine in the summer and maybe Ecuador near Thanksgiving. I am already starting to bone up on Ecuador birds.
Cheers.
