This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------07654FE69B230350563D774F Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hello Opreyites! I have been out-of-touch for a while, because I was on a 10-day solo birding trip to south Florida. This was a great trip for me - I managed to score 23 life birds: Fulvous Whistling-Duck Mottled Duck American White Pelican Wood Stork Greater Flamingo Limpkin Snail Kite Short-tailed Hawk Crested Caracara Snowy Plover Sandhill Crane Roseate Tern Sandwich Tern White-crowned Pigeon Eurasian Collared Dove Monk Parakeet Canary-winged Parakeet Mangrove Cuckoo Red-cockaded Woodpecker Cave Swallow Florida Scrub Jay Bahama Mockingbird Bachman's Sparrow This was my first time birding in Florida. I had been there many times previously, but my birding on those visits was confined to what I could see from my father-in-law's condo balcony - so my previous Florida list was woefully short, although it did include such goodies as Frigatebird and Spoonbill. This time, I flew into Key West, drove up the Keys, spent a couple of days in the Everglades/Miami region, then worked my way through the interior and up the west coast. The trip ended with a family gathering in Orlando. I guess the most satisfying bird for me was Mangrove Cuckoo. I tried for it in a couple places in the Keys and finally found one on Sugarloaf. I imitated the song, just once, and was amazed when the bird answered me and then came right out, with a mouthful of caterpillars. He stayed in view for quite a while. The most impressive bird was Crested Caracara - they look unreal to me, more like a stuffed toy then a real bird. Red-cockaded Woodpecker was easy at the Avon Park Air Force Bombing Range - the Air Force hands out a map marked with the likely places to find different birds, including the woodpeckers, Scrub Jays, Grasshopper Sparrows, Caracaras, and a few others. Roseate Tern was a surprise - I looked for it unsuccessfully in the Keys, and then found them when I wasn't expecting them - two birds, with a lot of other terns, just south of Fort Myers Beach one evening. Bahama Mockingbird was right at the spot that Bill Pranty notes in his Birder's Guide to Florida - at a little community park in Key West. It was still a surprise, though, because I had been following hotline reports and there was no mention of this one. Easy id - the bird stood on the pavement in front of me, scolding and flashing his (patchless) wings. Flamingo required the most effort. I hiked the 5 mile round trip Snake Bight trail in the Everglades to see them, dressed in a head-to-toe bug suit to ward off the mosquitoes. Even though I wasn't bitten, the buzzing was incredibly oud and stressful! Plus, the suit was hot, and the head net was so covered with mosquitoes that I couldn't see well. That almost got me into trouble, because I just about stepped on an alligator that I thought was a log. Luckily, his head was pointing the other way. When I finally got to the Florida Bay, there were 3 Flamingos, along with a large number of shorebirds and waders, fairly far out on extensive mudflats. Viewing was far from optimal, with lots of heat waves and shimmer. Good thing the flamingos have a distinctive color and shape. There were Spoonbills out there too, but they were easily differentiated by shape and feeding style. I also did well on rails and gallinules, finding all the Florida possibles except for Yellow. I had a Black Rail calling behind me at the Flamingo spot, so that was a lucky one. I could not find Antillean Nighthawk or Black-Whiskered Vireo, and heard from other birders that they were not in yet. Smooth-billed Ani were reported to be around, but were nesting and very secretive. I was disappointed with the migrant landbirds in general - the birds were coming in, but it seemed that I was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I only saw a handful of warblers: Palm, Pine, Prairie, and Parula, plus one Black-and-White. I think my favorite place was Loxahatchee NWR, northwest of Miami. The area open to the public is limited, but one small impoundment was loaded with a great diversity of birds. I set up my scope at one corner, and then walked the perimeter, and counted over 60 species right there, included 5 of the lifers. All in all, I had about 150 species on the trip, so my Florida list is a lot healthier now. If anyone is headed down there soon and wants some specific info on birds/places, please drop me a line. I have lots of info that I can share. Marcia Watson-Whitmyre Cecil County Norm Saunders wrote: > > > What new birds did you get in Florida?? > > Best, > Norm > --------------07654FE69B230350563D774F Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="vcard.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Marcia Watson-Whitmyre Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="vcard.vcf" begin: vcard fn: Marcia Watson-Whitmyre n: Watson-Whitmyre;Marcia org: University of Delaware adr: 234 Hullihen Hall;;University of Delaware;Newark;Delaware;19716;USA email;internet: mww@udel.edu title: Assistant Director for Academic Policies Administration tel;work: 302-831-6656 tel;fax: 302-831-8745 x-mozilla-cpt: ;0 x-mozilla-html: FALSE version: 2.1 end: vcard --------------07654FE69B230350563D774F--