Key Largo birding

During a break in the action in a Miami area business trip. My boss and I went in search of one of his nemesis birds, the Mangrove Cuckoo. Knowing the extensive hardwood hammocks of upper Key Largo has been one of the most consistently productive areas for these birds of late, we drove south after completion of our meetings. As soon as we reached the card sound road, Magnificent Frigatebirds like the male pictured below were common place and overhead near constantly.

Magnificent Frigatebir, male, Port Charlotte, FL 2005

Gray Kingbirds were also numerous flitting from wire to mangrove branch and back along our entire route. Both of these birds were very abundant and we saw many, but I didn't actually stop and take pictures of either on this quick trip (I've cheated here a bit and recycled some shots taken over the years on the image above and below).

Gray Kingbird, Englewood, FL 2005

In all, we spent ~2 hours searching some of these areas on the evening of June 17th. We heard and saw numerous Black-whiskered Vireos and White-crowned Pigeons throughout the area but the notoriously difficult Mangrove Cuckoo eluded us in the sweltering late afternoon heat and humidity. Most agree that Mangrove Cuckoos are definitely easier to find in the cool morning hours though, so we resigned ourselves to giving it one more shot the following morning before our time came to an end and my boss had to fly north again.

White-crowned Pigeon digiscoped Key Largo 6/18/08

We'd barely begun at 7 AM the following morning, when we saw our first cuckoo almost immediately. The bird sailed overhead and landed at roadside, so we quickly pulled over to view the bird and realized this was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. We would see a total of 4 Yellow-billed Cuckoos, down there with nary a Mangrove Cuckoo to show for our efforts. However, I was hoping that would soon change.

My friend Larry Manfredi and his young son, pulled up just then to help search some other areas. Larry is a professional tour guide in south Florida and extremely knowledgeable of local birds, so I wasn't about to say "No" when he offered to meet us and lend a hand! Larry met us at roadside a bit after 7:30 AM, and suggested we try another spot nearby that he likes. So we followed him a mile or so up Route 1 and pulled off again. As soon as we got out of our cars Larry asked, "Was that it?" I hadn't heard.

Mangrove Cuckoo digiscoped, Leica APO Televid spotting scope 6/18

Then as we sat along route 1, it called again a low croaking just up the road. We managed at long last to side track along the highway listening for the croak in between passing trucks and traffic, and spotted the bird 3/4 the way up in a taller tree! I snapped pictures and some video frames with my little point & shoot camera through the scope, before the bird finally retreated back into the thick hammock! It was 8:30 AM and I had to get my boss back to the Miami airport. So we thanked Larry and his son for his suggestion and for helping turn our luck around and parted ways.

Mangrove Cuckoo calls at roadside, Key Largo 6/18/2008

In the "videoscoped" clip above (shot through a Leica spotting scope) you can hear the passing traffic drown out the croaking calls of our cooperative quarry!

We made one more stop en route to view the endemic "Golden" Yellow Warblers which breed in mangroves along Card Sound Road, and I spotted both Snail Kites and Swallow-tailed Kites between Miami and home. It was a great trip and a rewarding 3.5 hours of birding in a tropical paradise. I wish it could have been more, who knows what else we might have seen!

South Florida birding with Larry Manfredi:

http://southfloridabirding.com/