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/

Feather Fest

White-tailed Kite, adult, digiscoped Galveston Island, April 2008

Galveston Island is a fabulous birding locale, and the bird festival "Galveston FeatherFest" is always a fun event. This year (like others in the past) the event was held on the first weekend in April. Since Galveston, Texas is on the Gulf of Mexico the birds here are not tremendously different from those I see in my home along Florida's gulf coast.

immature white morph Reddish Egret, digiscoped w/ Leica APO spotting scope

None-the-less, there are subtle regional differences and I always get wonderful photo opportunities. For example, the Texas gulf coast seems to host a greater percentage of the white form of the Reddish Egret like the immature seen above then I see near my home. I always enjoy my time here as a result. While the area is a stone throw from world famous migrant traps like High Island, I find myself oddly content to just bird the island and enjoy it's spoils when here.

This is the time of year when migration is just beginning to crank up, so I always see many new migrant species for the year including my first returning warblers. For the fourth year in a row, I once again saw my 1st returning Chimney Swifts of the year from the rooftop cocktail reception held annually at this event!

Laughing Gulls call and display at East Beach in Galveston, TX

More over though, the birding is fun because spring is fully in the air and evident everywhere you go. Familiar local species are exciting to observe because they are all courting and displaying. Laughing Gulls in high color can be seen everywhere parading in tandem and throwing their heads up giving their characteristic calls. Willets sing long songs from marsh-side posts & bushes or while perform flight displays. Northern Harriers loop pendulously over the marsh as well performing spectacular aerobatics.

Reddish Egret adultbristles in a showy diaplay of agression toward other wading birds

Many of the wading birds are also in their finest feather of the year. With high breeding plumes and bright facial skin and legs. The Reddish Egret above was exceptionally aggressive toward other wading birds as it preened its plumage to perfection.

Red-winged Blackbird, male digiscoped w/ Leica APO Televid scope & C-Lux 2 camera

Red epulets gleaming, male blackbirds "Conk-er-reeeee!" loudly and chase females doggedly when they fly up from the marsh, while Clapper Rails tussle for superiority at the edges of the brackish channels.

male Red-winged Blackbird throws its wings out in a flashy display while calling!

Being an island, there is a lot of areas for shorebirds and wading birds that are famed, but that is not all that Galveston has to offer. Bushes throughout the island typically hold at least one Scissor-tailed Flycatcher as they return from points south. The few hammocks of trees are fabulous migrant traps for warblers, and the short grass fields host migrant American Golden Plovers and Long-billed Curlews. Historically, these same fields played host to many migrant Eskimo Curlews. Now believed to be extinct, Galveston Island is one of the last known areas where these birds were seen in the wild! It's great fun to stand at the edge of these same fields and imagine a large flock of these birds swinging in off the gulf and noisily announcing their triumphant return to the US!

Seaside Sparrow sings from marsh grasses near East Beach, Galveston Island, TX.