Miami and the La Sagra Flycatcher

The Miami area might not be the first area a nature photographer thinks of when planning new trips, but for a birder it is a must.  Some biologists have called the area an open air zoo because of the exotic animal trade and subsequent escapes.  Some of these escapees will establish permanent self-sustaining populations while many will not.  The ABA, in it's wisdom, will not allow birders to officially count species unless they are sure it is an established, self-sustaining population.  Nevertheless, the huge numbers of exotic parrots and other birds make this an extremely interesting place whether you are a serious lister or not.

If you have seen the movie, "The Big Year" you know what extremes these "listers" will take.  Neil Haywood (www.acccidentalbigyear2013.blogspot.com)' the apparent new champion, visited 28 states, 7 provinces, flew 193,758 miles (177 flights through 56 airports), drove 51,758 miles and spent 147 hours at sea to set the new record.  Robert Ake, a 2010 Big Year competitor, made multiple trips to the Miami area to see what he called in the final month of his quest, "The dreaded La Sagra's Flycatcher".  This rather plain bird is not an escapee but simply a West Indian species that got lost in a flight from the Bahamas, Cuba, or Caymans.  Recent years has found an individual in either Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne or Matheson Hammock Park on the mainland. 

Recent reports indicated an individual La Sagra's Flycatcher singing just south of the bathrooms at Matheson Hammock Park so that is where we started. Within five minutes I heard the high pitched "wink" note.  It took another half hour to secure a decent photo of the bird but I felt quite good after knowing the difficulty this bird sometimes presents.


A sought after code 3 bird but definitely not that impressive

We also found a flock of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets between the bathrooms and the parking lot.  These birds were feeding in a fruit-laden tree and were quite well camouflaged and quiet when feeding but make a lot of noise when in flight

 

 



Yellow-chevroned Parakeet



Since Wakodahatchee Wetlands and Green Cay Wetlands of Boynton Beach lay between Miami and St Cloud, we decided to take a tour of both since there is always something new at one or the other.  The two small parking lots at Wakodahatchee were filled but since there was a Neotropic Cormorant continuing there we eventually found a spot and joined the crowds.  Most were interested in the Great Blue Herons nesting at the first outlook.  I immediately found the Neotropic Cormorant  looking rather lonely besides the larger Double-crested Cormorants.

Notice the white v outline at the base of the bill.  This is diagnostic in differentiating it from Double-crested Cormorants

 



Nesting Double-crested Cormorants.

 

Green Cay Wetlands also had a lot of birders and walkers but the visitor center had it's hours cut and was not open.  I was hoping to see a Purple Swamp Hen, a bird I have never seen, and recently reported here but after a careful search nothing turned up.  I did see a group of birders looking at what I hoped was the Swamp Hen but was was quickly told it was an American Bittern.  This has been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me so I was partly mollified.   This fairly large bird is so confident of it's camouflage that it allows close approach while remaining absolutely quiet.

 

 

 

A great place to eat when birding this area is The Four Brother's Italian Restaurant.  When we arrived they were backed up with carryout orders and informed us it would take a little longer than usual.  The management offered us any salad and soups off the menu along with garlic bread while we waited.  We ordered the calzones for $16 which was supposed to feed 3-4 people.  We could only eat a third of it and walked out with a large doggy bag.  The calzones were excellent and we had them for two more meals.  The long wait we expected-only 30 minutes.