This was a two-month trip to southeast USA
for Yvonne and myself, from late March through to late May, with a focus on the
Spring migration, in particular the highly varied and colourful warblers. The
trip commenced in Dallas in early Spring and involved touring through Texas
along the Mexican border, following the Gulf of Mexico around to Florida as far
south as Key West, then heading north up the east coast of the USA, then inland
to the Appalachian Ranges in North Carolina, before heading west for our return
trip to Dallas. Qantas has direct flights from Sydney to Dallas which avoids
flying on any internal flights within the USA.
Big Bend National Park - Rio Grande River on border with Mexico |
The timing for the trip was largely based on
“A Birder’s Guide to Planning North American Trips” by Jeremy A. Cooper. Key dates for Texas were to see Colima
Warbler in last week of March, Whooping Crane in the first week of April,
Attwater Prairie Chicken on the second weekend of April and warblers at High
Island in second week of April. We then focussed on warblers along the coast of
Louisiana and Alabama, with Dauphin Island being one of the top areas visited.
After that we headed down to the Florida Keys
and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, for the recommended peak birding period
of last week of April and first week of May. Following our visit to Florida, we
visited Georgia, South Carolina and the Appalachian Ranges in North Carolina,
where we managed to find various waders, warblers and woodpeckers, which we had
missed earlier in the trip. The return trip which was via Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma where we picked up a few more
target birds, most of which were established in their summer breeding grounds.
Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas |
The weather for the trip was excellent, with
some cold days initially and becoming warm to hot, especially in Florida. We
had a few days of rain which didn’t impact significantly and we missed out on
the severe flooding around Houston at the time we were at High Island.
We travelled just over 8,700 miles (14,000 km) visiting 10 states over the two month trip. To put this in perspective the flight from Dallas to Sydney was 8,800 miles.
With regards to birding, we recorded a total
of 358 birds of which 122 were lifers and 199 were new birds for the USA. We recorded
38 species of warbler of the Parulidae family (New World Warblers), which was
very pleasing. We did however miss out
on Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warbler as we travelled through their breeding
range in May. Other warblers, such as Bay-breasted and Virginia’s Warbler had
their respective breeding ranges further north or west, than the areas we visited.
The other large group of target birds, was
the Emberizidae family (New World Sparrows), and we recorded 24
species in this family. We however missed out on quite a few sparrows, such as
Harris’s and Nelson’s Sparrow as they left their wintering grounds and headed
north quite early on in our trip.
Overall a very enjoyable trip, with many
birds, reptiles and mammals seen, together with lovely scenery, with the best
areas visited being Big Bend National Park, Fort Jefferson and the Appalachian
Ranges. At this time of year, the flower displays were spectacular in many of the
areas we visited.
Trip
Report
Wednesday
23rd March: Arrival into DFW, Texas
Flew from Sydney to Dallas Fort Worth (DFW)
on Qantas, arriving at 13:30 and collected our AVIS rental car in Irving just
south of the airport. We drove to Mineral Wells that afternoon to avoid the
peak hour traffic and to get out of the complex freeway system around Dallas
and Fort Worth. Some nice birds, seen across the road from our
hotel in the late afternoon, included Ladder-backed Woodpecker, White-winged Dove and an early Chimney
Swift.
We had a WV Jetta for the trip which was comfortable
and spacious, plus had good performance and low fuel consumption (40 MPG or 6
l/100km). As this was a long term rental, we took out a mini lease with Avis
which was the best deal we could find. Collecting the car at Irving avoided
paying the airport surcharge which would have been significant over the two-month
rental. We dropped the car back at the airport on our return to DFW.
Thursday
24th March: Balmorhea State Park
Drove to Balmorhea State Park and stayed at
the park accommodation, which was lovely. The state park surrounds the San
Solomon Springs which produces about 90,000 cubic metres of water per day. Met
up with Barbara and Neville that afternoon and did some birding around the
state park grounds. Had a Mexican dinner at La Cueva de Oso Restaurant which was
excellent and was recommended in other trip reports. Had Great Horned Owl and
Barn Owl just outside our bungalow in the evening plus Common Poorwill calling.
Balmorhea State Park - Wetlands with accommodation in background |
Friday
25th March: Fort Davis
Had a quick visit to Balmorhea Lake in the
early morning but there was nothing moving on the lake, so we headed off to
Fort Davis. A visit to Balmorhea Lake requires a permit which apparently can be
obtained from a shop on the lake shore, not that we found the shop or any
signage assisting visitors.
The drive from Balmorhea to Fort Davis is
impressive as it winds through the canyons. We stopped off at the Fort Davis
National Historic Site to get our National Parks annual pass and to watch a
short film on the history of Fort Davis.
We then headed down the road to the
Chihuahuan Desert Nature Centre which had quite a few flowering cactus species.
Some good birding around the visitors centre with Say’s Phoebe, Black-crested
Titmouse, Cactus Wren and Canyon Towhee. The highlight however was a covey of
eight Montezuma Quail which were flushed from the canyon trail and seen several
times walking through grass.
Montezuma Quail |
Visited the Davis Mountains State Park in the
afternoon which was great and we had Black-chinned Hummingbird, Western
Scrub-Jay, Hermit Thrush (race auduboni), Curve-billed Thrasher, Green-tailed Towhee
and Pyrrhuloxia. The staff at the park office suggested that we visit the area
on the other side of the access road, which requires a key and permit, which we
did the next morning.
Early morning in the Primitive Area of Davis Mountains State Park |
Saturday
26th March: Fort Davis to Big Bend National Park
Picked up a key in the morning to visit the
Primitive Area alongside the river, across the road from the Davis Mountains
State Park entrance. Had some good birding with Bushtit, Phainopepla and six
species of Sparrow seen.
Phainopepla |
We stopped off at a picnic site for lunch on the way down to Big Bend National Park and had our first Vermilion Flycatchers for the trip.
Vermilion Flycatcher |
Continued south to the entrance gate for the Big Bend National Park at Maverick, and then onto the Chisos Mountains Lodge, our accommodation for the next four nights, arriving in mid-afternoon. Birds seen around the accommodation included Greater
Roadrunner, Acorn Woodpecker, Mexican Jay, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Cactus
Wren and Canyon Towhee.
Cactus Wren |
The Chisos Mountains are quite spectacular
and the restaurant has panoramic views of the canyon, plus some great food.
Sunset over the Chisos Basin Mountains |
Sunday
27th March: Rio Grande Village, Big Bend NP
Left early in the morning, before sunrise,
and drove down to the Rio Grande Village for the day, staying till early
evening to see some owls. We saw Grey Fox and Coyote, plus numerous Desert
Cottontail and some Black-tailed Jackrabbit on the drive.
The Rio Grande River was quite shallow and we
saw a few Mexican’s crossing the river to sell their trinkets.
Mexican Trinkets |
Some of the birding highlights during the day
were our first Black Vultures of the trip, the range restricted Grey Hawk and
Common Black Hawk, plus Virginia Rail, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Vermilion
Flycatcher, Bell’s Vireo, Verdin, Marsh Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher and
Vesper Sparrow.
Golden-fronted Woodpecker |
At dusk we staked out an Elf Owl nest and saw the tiny owl
peering out of its nesting hole for quite a while before it flew off, once it
was dark enough and after the bats had emerged. Once in flight it was about the
same size as the micro bats and would have been impossible to identify. We then
heard and saw a Western Screech-Owl, before taking the long drive back to our
accommodation.
Monday
28th March: Chisos Basin, Big Bend NP
The main target for today was the Colima Warbler,
a rare and very localised warbler of the high altitudinal oak woodlands in the
Chisos Mountains. The staff at the visitor centre said that these warblers
typically arrived in the first week of April and that there hadn’t been any
reliable sightings in the past week. They also indicated that the best area to
find them was in the oak trees on the other side of Emory Peak (2,385m
elevation) on the Boot Canyon Trail. Quite a few sightings have also been
reported on the return track through Laguna Meadows.
Predawn on the trail up to Emory Peak with Neville striding out in front |
Emory Peak can be reached by a fairly steep
hike, of about 14 km from the Chisos Mountain accommodation, with an elevation
gain of approximately 760m. We left before sunrise and took a slow walk up the
mountains, with quite spectacular scenery along the way. Had quite a few
Hutton’s Vireo on the way up. After getting close to Emory Peak, the Boot
Canyon Trail drops slowly in elevation and meanders through impressive valleys
and mountains. We didn’t manage to see the Colima Warbler but did hear at least
four birds along the Boot Canyon Trail. The call was a consistent trill
followed by a couple of lower pitch notes with a sharp cut-off. Quite different
to the call of its close relatives, the Virginia's, Nashville and Lucy's
Warblers.
We then completed the trail loop returning
via Laguna Meadows. Birding along the trail was hard work with White-breasted
Nuthatch, Rock Wren, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Dark-eyed Junco, Spotted Towhee and
Lesser Goldfinch being new birds for the trip.
Tuesday
29th March: Cottonwood Campground, Big Bend NP
Today we drove down to the Cottonwood
Campground for the day and had two Grey Hawk, a Great Horned Owl roosting in a
Cottonwood tree, many Vermilion Flycatcher, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Cassin’s
Vireo, Lucy’s Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Audubon Warbler and Black-throated
Sparrow.
Black-throated Sparrow |
In the afternoon we went a short way up the
river to the Santa Elena Canyon Trail.
The trail follows the Rio Grande River into the Santa Elena Canyon |
Wednesday
30th March: Big Bend NP to Del Rio
Left the Chisos Mountains before sunrise and
drove northwards out of the park, with great sightings of Scaled Quail alongside
and crossing the road. We were stopped at the border control point and asked to
show our passports. Chatting to the one officer, who was also interested in
birding, he casually said there’s a Bobcat crossing the road. Had a good
breakfast at Marathon before visiting the wetlands at Fort Peña Colorado Park,
just south of Marathon. Quite good birding there with Wild Turkey plus
Brewer’s, Savannah and Swamp Sparrow.
Seminole Canyon |
We then drove through to Seminole Canyon State
Park with an American Badger seen crossing the road and our first
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher seen further along the road. The flowers at the
Seminole Canyon were quite spectacular and well worth the visit. We had our
only White-throated Swift and Lark Bunting of the trip plus Scaled Quail,
Canyon Wren, Bewick’s Wren, plentiful Cassin’s Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow,
White-crowned Sparrow and Pyrrhuloxia.
Flowers at Seminole Canyon |
Thursday
31st March: Del Rio to Vanderpool
Drove from Del Rio to Vanderpool in the Texas
Hill Country, with a morning visit to the Uvalde Fish Hatchery (open Monday to
Friday). Excellent birding at the fish hatchery with Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, Osprey, Spotted Sandpiper, Greater
Yellowlegs, Wilson’s Snipe, Wilson’s Phalarope, Barn Owl and Bell’s Vireo seen.
Texas Garter Snake, the first of many snakes for the trip |
We stayed at the Foxfire Cabins over the next
three nights in their Main House, which was the best accommodation of the trip,
a huge house with large gardens overlooking the river. Interesting birds in the
gardens included Inca Dove, Eastern Phoebe, Black-crested Titmouse, Carolina
Wren and Yellow-throated Warbler. In the evening Barred Owl was heard calling
from the well wooded valley just down the road.
Our accommodation at Vanderpool |
Friday
1st April: Lost Maples State
Natural Area
The Lost Maples SNA was very close to our
accommodation and had the key targets of Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked
Warbler. We visited the park in the early morning and walked the East Trail. It
was cold with some heavy rain and brief sunny periods, which did impact on the
birding. I managed to get good views of Golden-cheeked Warbler as the trail
climbs up onto the plateau. Other interesting birds included White-tipped Dove,
a local rarity which has been in the park for the past four years, plus
White-eyed Vireo, Bell’s Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Hutton’s Vireo,
Black-and-white Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler and Pine Siskin.
Yellow-throated Warbler |
In the late afternoon we visited the Concan
Frio Bat Cave which has 10’s of thousands of Brazilian Free-tailed Bat and is
part of a colony of 10 to 12 million bats. While waiting for sunset in the
freezing wind, we had great views of Harris’s Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Swainson’s
Hawk and a couple of Laughing Gull flying overhead. Even more spectacular was
the well over 1,000 Cave Swallow coming into the caves to roost for the
evening, prior to the bats departing. After sunset the bats start to emerge and
the first bats get taken by waiting raptors. So quite an event to witness and
well worth visiting.
Concan Frio Bat Cave |
Saturday
2nd April: Lost Maples State
Natural Area
Today was sunny and very pleasant, so we
headed back to the Lost Maples SNA after breakfast. I took the East Trail
straight up to the plateau and eventually had great views of the Black-capped
Vireo.
Black-capped Vireo |
Other interesting birds included White-tipped Dove seen at feeders at
car park, Ruby-throated and Black-chinned Hummingbird, close-up views of Chihuahuan
Raven and Common Raven, Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler (saw
the small orange patch on crown), Nashville Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler,
Yellow-throated Warbler, Golden-cheeked Warbler at feeders, Scott’s Oriole and
Greater Kiskadee (a rarity for this site).
Barbara and Neville were leaving the next
morning for their flights back to Canada, so we relaxed at our accommodation in
the afternoon and had a great barbeque in the evening.
Sunday
3rd April: Vanderpool to
Zapata
After breakfast and saying goodbye to Barbara
and Neville, we drove south to Zapata on the Rio Grande River with the first of
many Crested Caracara seen alongside the road. In the afternoon we visited the
Zapata Library Gardens which provided some limited birding. Interesting birds
included Black Phoebe, Couch’s Kingbird (broad bill at base, confirmed by call),
Common Yellowthroat and Brewer’s Blackbird. At our hotel we had quite a few
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on the telephone lines.
Crested Caracara |
Monday
4th April: Zapata to Mission,
McAllen
After an early breakfast we drove to Falcon
State Park which was close to Zapata. A very pleasant state park on Falcon Lake
and had some different birds including Plain Chachalaca, twelve Crested
Caracara, Northern Bobwhite at butterfly gardens, Snowy Egret, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed
Gull, Greater Roadrunner and Bullock’s Oriole.
Plain Chachalaca |
We then went down to Salineño, a birding site
on the Rio Grande River. The birding areas were closed off but we were able to
walk up the river. On the walk back we met a UK birder who was also after the
White-collared Seedeater, a local rarity. After a short walk back up the river
we managed to see two White-collared Seedeater in the reeds alongside the
river. Other interesting birds included Broad-winged Hawk, Solitary Sandpiper,
Belted Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Green Jay and Altamira Oriole.
We then visited Roma Bluffs World Birding Centre
a bit further down the river and saw our first Wood Thrush for the trip. The
World Birding Centre was closed (which was unexpected) when we visited but there
was the Roma Bluffs observation deck which had views over the river into Mexico.
Overall a very uninspiring place to visit with lots of police patrol cars
looking for illegal immigrants. We didn’t stay long and couldn’t get out of the
area quick enough.
We drove to the Indian Ridge Bed and Breakfast in
Mission in McAllen, our accommodation for the next four nights.
The gardens at Indian Ridge had many large trees plus the house had feeders to
attract the birds. Interesting birds around the gardens included Plain
Chachalaca, Inca Dove, White-winged Dove, Buff-bellied Hummingbird,
Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Green Jay and Great-tailed Grackle.
Green Jay, a tropical bird found in Mexico and South America, and just into southern Texas |
Tuesday
5th April: Bentsen-Rio Grande
Valley State Park
After breakfast we drove down the road to the
lovely Bensten-Rio Grande Valley SP. The state park is very well set up with
good roads, paths, bird hides, a hawk viewing platform and tram shuttle
services. No vehicles are allowed into the park but the park is small enough to
walk around. Close to one of the bird hides we came across a Bobcat just
sitting under the bushes.
Well hidden Bobcat before it slinked off into the bush |
We did get to the hawk viewing platform close
to midday but missed most of the migrating hawks. Interesting birds seen included
Anhinga, Harris’s Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, Sora, White-tipped
Dove, Lesser Nighthawk (heard), Great Kiskadee, Couch’s Kingbird, Green Jay,
Clay-coloured Thrush, Olive Sparrow, Bronzed Cowbird and Altamira Oriole.
White-tipped Dove, a secretive bird of the Neotropics and resident in southernmost Texas |
Wednesday
6th April: Estero Llano
Grande State Park
After an early breakfast we drove to Estero
Llano Grande SP which was further down the Rio Grande River at Weslaco. This
was another excellent state park with a wetland viewing deck, boardwalks and
over 8 km of trails. On arrival we saw that the park had organised bird walks at
8:30am, three times per week, and fortunately we had arrived on the right day.
The bird walk was excellent and we took a tour of the various wetlands and then
into the bushy areas around the original village.
An old house at Estero Llana with one of the many Trump placards seen on the trip |
One of the birds which we were shown was the Common
Pauraque, a well disguised nightjar which only occurs in Southern Texas. As I
didn’t manage to get satisfactory views, I went back after the tour and managed
to get good views and photos of the well camouflaged bird.
Common Pauraque, a widespread nightjar of the tropics and found in southern Texas |
Other interesting birds included Fulvous
Whistling-Duck, Mottled Duck, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Least Grebe,
Green Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill,
White-tailed Kite, Solitary Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Common
Ground-Dove, White-tipped Dove, Red-crowned Parrot at its nest, Northern
Beardless-Tyrannulet, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Couch's Kingbird, Purple
Martin, Clay-colored Thrush, Curve-billed Thrasher, Long-billed Thrasher and
six species of Sparrow.
Red-crowned Parrot |
Overall we recorded 77 birds for the day, one
of the best days so far for the trip.
Clay-colored Thrush, a thrush of the tropical lowlands |
Thursday
7th April: Bentsen-Rio Grande
Valley State Park
Visited the Bensten-Rio Grande Valley SP
again but this time arrived before the gates opened at 8am. Once the gates
opened we went straight down to the hawk viewing platform, where we had Grey
Hawk, over 300 Broad-winged Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk and a Swallow-tailed Hawk
which caused some excitement. Today was a fairly quiet day for migrating hawks
and previous days had over 1,000 hawks plus many more Turkey Vultures. The hawk
viewing platform is manned by volunteers during the hawk migration and they are
very knowledgeable about the local birds.
Great Kiskadee building a nest at the hawk viewing platform |
As we were walking back along the road we
noticed a barefoot man acting suspiciously, looking back at us and disappearing into the bushes
whenever a helicopter passed overhead. Obviously not a tourist, we notified one
of the park rangers and a man hunt was launched by US Border Patrol but I don’t think they managed
to find the suspected illegal.
A bit further down the road, we saw a huge
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake alongside the road and then crossing the road.
The rattlesnake must have been between 1.5 and 2m in length with the largest
recorded being just over 2.1m. It disappeared quite quickly once it got into
the undergrowth, even when it was only a metre from the road verge and we knew
where it was.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake |
Interesting birds for the day included 18
Plain Chachalaca, Brown-crested Flycatcher, 16 Great Kiskadee, 8 Couch’s
Kingbird, Green Jay, Clay-coloured Thrush, Long-billed Thrasher, Olive Sparrow,
Hooded Oriole and Altamira Oriole. We were also fortunate to see and photograph
a female Ringed Kingfisher down at the water’s edge.
Long-billed Thrasher, a resident of southern Texas and eastern Mexico |
Friday
8th April: Laguna Atascosa National
Wildlife Reserve
Left early in the morning to avoid the
traffic and drove down to the coast, arriving at the Laguna Atascosa NWR just
after sunrise. This was another excellent park and had a variety of habitats to
visit, plus walking trails and viewing platforms.
At one of the ponds we visited, there was a
nursery of American Alligators, with quite a few young alligators with
their distinctive yellow striping. This pond also had many Tricolored
Heron, Snowy Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, Solitary Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs,
Long-billed Dowitcher and Louisiana Waterthrush.
Green Jay at feeder close to visitor centre |
Interesting birds included about 40
Franklin’s Gull, White-tipped Dove, Long-billed Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Indigo
Bunting and Altamira Oriole. Rose-breasted Grosbeak had been seen close to the
visitor centre but we didn’t manage to locate them.
The extremely rare Aplomado Falcon has
been reintroduced at Laguna Atascosa NWR as part of a recovery program,
although we didn’t manage to see the falcons. According to the Texas Parks and
Wildlife Department, an initial release of captive-reared young was
made in Kleberg County, Texas in 1985. The release program then shifted to
Laguna Atascosa NWR and Matagorda Island and the first breeding in the wild of
released captive-reared Aplomado Falcons occurred in 1995. Since 1997, over 100 captive-reared young have
been released annually along the Texas Gulf Coast, which has resulted in the
establishment of at least 37 Aplomado pairs that have produced over 92 young in
the wild.
We drove on to Rockport, for an overnight
stay, and visited Goose Island State Park in the late afternoon. It was very
windy at the park but we did manage to see Redhead, Willet, Forster’s Tern,
Sandwich Tern and Black Skimmer.
Saturday
9th April: Aransas National Wildlife
Reserve
We had planned on doing a boat trip to see
the Whooping Cranes however the tour company Texas Whoopers had stopped running
the trips. Instead we headed up the coast to Aransas NWR, another excellent
reserve.
It was a wet and very windy day but we did
manage to see a single Whooping Crane from the elevated viewing platform.
Managed to see over 50 birds for the morning including our first Northern
Harrier, Gull-billed Tern, Black-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Kingbird, White-eyed
Vireo and Worm-eating Warbler for the trip.
Black Vulture on viewing platform |
In the afternoon we drove through to
Columbus, just west of Houston, for the night. Saw a White-tailed Hawk from the
highway close to Ganado.
Sunday
10th April: Attwater Prairie
Chicken National Wildlife Reserve
The Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR allows access
for the public to visit the restricted Prairie Chicken breeding and lekking
area, on the second weekend of April every year. The Attwater’s Prairie Chicken
is a highly endangered subspecies of the Greater Prairie Chicken, that is
native to coastal Texas and Louisiana, and now survives on small parcels of
managed prairies. Whilst the NWR is open for visitors for the rest of the year,
it’s very unlikely that the Prairie Chicken can be seen from the part of the
reserve that is open for visitors.
The NWR and volunteers were very organised
and had buses to take the visitors to the viewing platform. There we were able
to witness up to 14 male Prairie Chicken displaying on a small mound a few
hundred metres away, in the early morning mist. While viewing the lekking we
had Upland Sandpipers flying just overhead.
After we returned to the visitor centre the
volunteers had laid on coffee, tea, rolls and excellent spicy sausages. There
was also an organised birding walk which was very popular. A really great
morning and well worth the visit.
Interesting birds included White-tailed Hawk,
Great Horned Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrow.
Red-bellied Woodpecker |
We drove through to Galveston in the
afternoon, taking the back roads to avoid Houston. We had a short stop at San
Luis Pass just after the toll bridge. The huge flock of well over 400 Black
Skimmer and about 120 American Avocet was very impressive but unfortunately the
local fishermen kept disturbing the birds and even drove though the flock to
get to their fishing area. Other interesting birds included a white morph
Reddish Egret plus Least, Black, Caspian, Sandwich and Common Tern. Quite a few
waders including Grey Plover, Greater Yellowlegs, Willet, Whimbrel, Sanderling,
Western Sandpiper, Long and Short-billed Dowitcher plus Laughing and Herring
Gulls.
We had a short visit to Galveston Island State
Park, which was very busy, and had our first Orchard Oriole for the trip.
Overnight at Galveston.
Monday
11th April: Galveston to High
Island
In the morning we took the ferry across to
Port Bolivar and saw a few birds close to the harbour including Red-breasted
Merganser, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron and Common Tern.
We then visited Fort Travis Seashore Park
which was nice and quiet. Had some good birds here including Mottled Duck,
American Bittern, Grey Plover, American Golden Plover, Marbled Godwit and many
Savannah Sparrow.
Fort Travis |
Further up the coast we had a short visit to Bolivar
Flats Shorebird Sanctuary and saw White-tailed Kite, Northern Harrier, Sora,
Crested Caracara, Marsh Wren and Seaside Sparrow.
We then drove onto to High Island arriving
just before midday. Birding around the area, away from the designated birding
areas where you have to pay $7 per person per day, we saw our first Blue Jay
for the trip, plus Brown Thrasher, Worm-eating Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler,
Kentucky Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Indigo Bunting and
Orchard Oriole.
Prothonotary Warbler |
After a couple of hours at High Island we
drove across to Anahuac NWR which was excellent. Plenty of wetland birds at the
reserve, with good access roads and excellent visitor centre which is manned by
friendly volunteers. Driving around the wetlands we had our first Black-crowned
Night-Heron and Boat-tailed Grackle for the trip.
Cliff Swallow nesting at picnic area at Anahuac NWR |
Stayed at the Comfort Inn and Suites in Winnie
for the next three nights as we couldn’t find any decent accommodation at High
Island.
Tuesday
12th April: High Island and Anahuac
National Wildlife Reserve
After breakfast, drove down to High Island which
had some early morning mist. Birding in the morning was good, with 44 species
recorded, including five species of Vireo (White-eyed, Yellow-throated,
Blue-headed, Warbling and Red-eyed), Wood Thrush, Grey Catbird and eight
species of warbler. The warblers included Worm-eating, Black-and-white, Prothonotary,
Tennessee, Kentucky, Hooded, Yellow-throated Warbler and Northern Parula. We
also had Scarlet Tanager and five Painted Bunting, our first of the trip.
Cottonmouth crossing the road at Anahuac NWR |
We headed over to Anahuac NWR after midday
and had a good afternoon birding with about 60 species seen. Highlights
included eight Mottled Duck, Northern Shoveler, American Bittern, Purple
Gallinule, Common Nighthawk perched on a fence post, our only Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker of the trip, Crested Caracara, Peregrine Falcon and about eight Marsh
Wren seen and heard.
Wednesday
13th April: High Island
After breakfast, we drove down to High Island
with some heavy rain on the way and for the early part of the morning at High
Island. Birding was very good just after the rain, with 49 species recorded,
including Veery, Brown Thrasher, Ovenbird, Swainson’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler,
Yellow-breasted Chat, White-throated Sparrow, four Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blue
Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole. As far as warblers go, we saw nine species for
the morning.
We never did experience the fallout
conditions in which up to 20 species of warbler can be seen. This can happen during
a spring northerly storm, when the migrating birds encounter strong head winds
and a prolonged and energy-draining flight over the Gulf of Mexico. The birds
reach the wooded areas along the coast, such as High Island, to feed and regain
body mass before resuming their northwards migration. If the winds are from the
south, then the birds tend to keep moving northwards.
As we spent close to two weeks along the
coast, from Texas through to Louisiana and then Alabama, visiting the known
migrant traps, we would have had a good chance of experiencing a fallout if it
had occurred. Speaking with local birders in Louisiana, they said that a decent
fallout hadn’t occurred for many years and that bird numbers appeared to be far
less than previously experienced.
It started raining heavily at midday and we
headed back to Winnie for the afternoon. The rain we had was just the edge of a
major storm front which resulted in severe flooding from Dallas through to
Houston.
Thursday
14th April: Peveto Woods and
Sam Houston Jones State Park, Louisiana
After breakfast, we drove via Port Arthur
down to the coast of Louisiana, to a small birding area near to the beach known
as Peveto Woods. Unlike High Island, there was no entry fee and we met some of
the local birders at the site. Interesting birds included our first Piping
Plover, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler, Black-throated Green
Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Blue Grosbeak. Just five species of warbler
were seen during the morning.
After three hours at Peveto Woods, we went further
up the coast to Holly Beach which had many terns and waders. After a short
stop, we drove up towards Lake Charles with a brief stop at Sabine NWR. Taking
the wetland walkway, we had our first Common Loon of the trip.
We then drove via Lake Charles to the Sam
Houston Jones SP, where we had booked cabin accommodation for the next three
nights. The state park was lovely however the accommodation was pretty rustic,
cramped and disappointing. Some late afternoon birding produced Red-shouldered
Hawk, Red-headed Woodpecker and American Crow.
Friday
15th April: Sam Houston Jones
State Park
Had a pleasant and relaxing day at SHJSP
walking most of the trails. The 440-hectare State Park is located just north of
Lake Charles city, at the confluence of the Houston and Calcasieu Rivers and
Indian Bayou. It consists of woodlands, lakes and rivers. Prominent in the park
are many bald cypress trees in the lagoons, ideal habitat for Pileated and
other woodpeckers.
Bald Cypress trees and swamps at Sam Houston Jones State Park |
Snakes were plentiful and we had five species
for the day including a Copperhead spread across the path and not keen to move.
Interesting birds included six Wood Duck, about 20 Mississippi Kite flying
overhead in the afternoon, four species of Woodpecker (Red-headed, Red-bellied,
Downy and Pileated), Fish Crow, Carolina Chickadee and Prothonotary Warbler.
The latter warbler was seen at many of the lowland wetlands and swamps through
most of south-east USA.
Copperhead stretched out across the path |
Looking for night birds in the evening I came
across two Nine-banded Armadillo which I hadn’t expected to see. We had seen
many dead Armadillo on the roads through Texas, so it was great to see them
alive.
Saturday
16th April: Sam Houston Jones
SP and Turf Grass Road, Jefferson Davis
County
Did an early morning walk at Sam Houston Jones SP and saw my
first Tufted Titmouse for the trip.
In mid-morning, we drove east of Lake Charles to the
Turf Grass farms, Crawfish ponds and rice fields, in Jefferson Davis County, just
north of the Intestate 10 highway. This area had some excellent birding,
especially the Crawfish ponds and rice fields, although I didn’t manage to
locate any Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
Interesting
birds included Northern Bobwhite, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, about 30 American
Golden Plover, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, four Upland
Sandpiper, Dunlin, Pectoral Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, about 80 Long-billed
Dowitcher, Crested Caracara, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Summer Tanager.
Solitary Sandpiper |
After that we drove through the small towns
and local farmlands. It was becoming quite windy and we headed back to SHJSP in
the afternoon.
Sunday
17th April: Atchafalaya National
Wildlife Reserve
Left SHJSP early in the morning and drove
further eastwards to Atchafalaya NWR. This was a huge 15,000-acre reserve and
is part of the largest bottomland hardwood swamp in the USA, with extensive
walking trails through the swamps. We didn’t do too much walking as the
mosquitoes were ferocious and the birding was slow going. We did manage to see
our first Acadian Flycatcher for the trip.
We then took the back roads to the impressive
bridge crossing the Mississippi River close to St Francisville, our stopover
for the night.
Crossing the Mississippi River |
In the afternoon we did a
tour of the Myrtles Plantation historic homestead, built in 1796, and apparently
one of America’s most haunted homes, supposedly the home of at least 12 ghosts.
Had an interesting afternoon and learnt some more of the local history.
Myrtles Plantation Historic Home |
Monday
18th April: Dauphin Island,
Mobile County, Alabama
Left St Francisville early in the morning and
took some back roads through small towns and very pleasant countryside, before
getting onto the busy interstate highways as we travelled through Mississippi
to Dauphin Island on the coast of Alabama. Dauphin Island is a well-known
Spring migrant trap and has several birding areas and reserves, all of which
have free access and are well laid out with trails and viewing platforms.
Had a very pleasant afternoon exploring Dauphin
Island, spending most of the time at the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. The various
birding areas are detailed in Dauphin Island Bird Sanctuaries website (www.coastalbirding.org). Just under 50 species of birds seen during
the afternoon with highlights being Great Crested Flycatcher, Brown-headed
Nuthatch, American Robin, Prairie Warbler and Painted
Bunting. Only two warbler species were seen during the afternoon visit.
Typical elevated houses on Dauphin Island designed for storm surges |
We spent the next two nights at Bayou La
Batre which was inexpensive and convenient for getting to Dauphin Island.
Tuesday
19th April: Dauphin Island,
Mobile County, Alabama
Spent the day at Dauphin Island, mainly at
Shell Mound Park and Audubon Bird Sanctuary, with visits to the wetlands at the
airport, Fort Gaines to the east, flowering bottlebrush at the cemetery and the
beaches to the west.
Fort Gaines on far eastern end of Dauphin Island |
Had some good birding with close to 70 species for the
day. Highlights included Least Bittern kindly shown to us by a local birding
guide, two Clapper Rail swimming across water in wetlands at airport, four
species of Vireo with Philadelphia Vireo being the first for our trip,
Grey-cheeked Thrush, eleven species of Warbler with Northern Waterthrush, Cape
May Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler being new birds for the trip, Blue and
Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Painted Bunting. As far as warblers go, this was the one of the best days of our trip.
Least Bittern, a tiny heron (33cm) which is surprisingly well camouflaged |
Wednesday
20th April: Gulf Islands
National Seashore, Santa Rosa County and St. Joseph Peninsula SP, Gulf County, Florida
Left early in the morning and drove eastwards
to Florida with a short stop-off at the Gulf Islands National Seashore. This
small reserve had some pleasant walks and we saw 12 species of birds including
Belted Kingfisher, Red-shouldered Hawk and Brown-headed Nuthatch during the
short visit.
We drove through to the MainStay Suites in
Port St. Joe, our accommodation for the next three nights, and visited St.
Joseph Peninsula State Park in the mid-afternoon. This park was very pleasant
to visit and we saw 16 Red-breasted Merganser, Northern Gannet, Bald Eagle,
some waders and terns plus Prothonotary and Blackpoll Warbler.
Red-breasted Merganser |
The Florida Panhandle area west and east of
Port St Joe was by far the best area we visited in Florida. The rest of
Florida, especially around Miami and the Florida Keys was a bit of a nuthouse.
Thursday
21st April: St. George Island
State Park, Franklin County, Florida
Spent the day at St. George Island SP which
was another great park to visit and close to Port St. Joe. The park was quite
large and consisted mostly of sand dunes with little vegetation. Other than the
waders along the beach, most of the other birds were seen on the protected
northern side of the island which has some trees and shrubs.
Saw about 50 birds
for the day with highlights being American Oystercatcher, Wilson’s Plover,
Semipalmated Plover, Willet, Marbled Godwit, Red Knot, Sanderling, Dunlin,
Semipalmated Sandpiper, four species of tern, Common Ground-Dove, Cape May
Warbler, Eastern Towhee and Painted Bunting.
Painted Bunting |
The Snowy Plover was one of my key target
birds for this state park. It is declining in some areas, especially along Gulf
Coast and parts of Pacific Coast, and is considered threatened in parts of
range. Human disturbance on beaches often causes failure of nesting attempts
much like the Hooded Plover in Australia. The beaches along the Florida
Panhandle have about 200 pairs of Snowy Plover, spread out over 300 km of
coastline. I drove down to the entrance gate and asked the local rangers, who
gave me some excellent advice. I then went back up to the northern most beaches
and found a Snowy Plover within 20 minutes.
In the evening we had two Chuck-will's-widow
calling outside the hotel at about 10pm in the evening. I had a look for the
birds but couldn’t locate them in the dense forest surrounding the hotel.
Friday
22nd April: St. Joseph
Peninsula State Park, Florida
Visited St. Joseph Peninsula SP in the early
morning before a heavy rainstorm blew in at 10am and washed out the rest of the
day.
For the less than 2 hours we had
birding, we saw over 30 birds including Red-breasted Merganser, Common Loon,
Northern Gannet, Clapper Rail (scottii race) up close, Snowy Plover, Northern
Rough-winged Swallow and our first Tree Swallow for the trip.
Brown Pelican posing just before the storm |
We headed into Port St. Joe to explore the
town and to do some shopping.
Saturday
23rd April: St. Marks National
Wildlife Reserve, Wakulla County, Florida
Left early in the morning and drove to St
Marks NWR, located 25 miles south of Tallahassee. This was an excellent reserve
with over 70 species seen during our 5-hour visit. We had some advice from the
visitor centre on where to see Red-cockaded Woodpecker but didn’t have any luck
with these birds, probably because we arrived at the site too late in the morning.
Due to habitat destruction, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker
(RCW) population in the USA has declined about 99% since European settlement,
and is now a federally-listed endangered species. At St
Marks the nests are mostly located in the Panacea Unit in mesic and wet
flatwoods south of Sopchoppy. In 1988, the refuge population included six
active nesting sites, which produced ten young. The RCW requires old living pines,
preferably Longleaf Pine in excess of 80 years of age, in which to excavate
their nesting and roosting cavities. They primarily forage for insects and
arthropods in the bark of living pines, and tend to prefer pines in excess of
nine inches in diameter. The RCW nests in social groups and they leave their
nesting area in the early morning and return in the late afternoon. The US Fish
and Wildlife Service booklet on the RCW is excellent and provides a good
understanding on the woodpeckers which assists in finding them.
Close to the visitor centre we saw a Bald
Eagle perched in a tree, another federally-listed endangered species. St
Marks has a healthy Bald Eagle population which consisted of fourteen active
nesting territories recorded in 1988. The eagles are migratory and usually
arrive at the refuge in September and remain through May.
Bald Eagle |
After birding around the visitor centre, we
took the trail to the Red-cockaded Woodpecker nesting area, where we had eight
species of warbler including Tennessee, Palm and Pine Warbler. We also had
Bachman’s and White-throated Sparrow on this trail. We then headed down to the
coast which had many waders in various shallow ponds.
Wetlands at St Marks NWR |
Interesting birds
included over 150 American White Pelican, Redhead, Swallow-tailed Kite, Clapper
Rail, Purple Gallinule, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, over 60 Willet, 12
Marbled Godwit, over 50 Dunlin, well over 100 Short-billed Dowitcher in full
breeding plumage, 45 Ruddy Turnstone, Stilt Sandpiper in breeding plumage and
Eastern Towhee with the pale eyes.
Green Anole which inflates its dewlap or throat and commonly seen along the Gulf Coast |
After lunch we continued onto Crystal River which is further south on the western side of Florida.
Sunday
24th April: Homosassa Springs
Wildlife State Park and Fort Island Trail, Citrus County
Our primary reason for visiting Homosassa
Springs was to see West Indian Manatee, which we saw on the inlet into the park.
The Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a subspecies of the West
Indian Manatee, is the largest of all living sirenians. The Manatees have
shorter snouts than their fellow sirenians, the Dugongs which occur in
Australia, and are a lot bigger.
Florida Manatee |
The park also had some walks through aviaries
and wildlife enclosures. Had a pleasant morning at the park and saw about 18
species of birds outside of the various enclosures.
We then took the road down to Fort Island, on
the coast just west of Crystal River and did a couple of the trails. Being the
weekend it was very busy but a few interesting birds included Anhinga,
Swallow-tailed Kite, Osprey and Yellow-billed Cuckoo.
Monday
25th April: Honeymoon Island
SP, Pinellas County and Myakka River SP, Sarasota County
We left early for the drive down to Honeymoon
Island State Park, west of Tampa. Had a pleasant morning birding around the park and
highlights were Mottled Duck, our first Magnificent Frigatebird, Yellow-crowned
Night-heron, 24 Osprey, four Red Knot in breeding plumage, over 50 Sanderling,
many Common Ground-dove, four species of warbler including two Yellow Warbler
and Eastern Towhee.
Looking for waders along the shoreline of Honeymoon Island State Park |
We then drove around the city of Tampa and
visited Myakka River State Park further south. This was a great park to visit
and although it was hot and humid by the afternoon, we did see 25 species of
birds including Mottled Duck, Glossy Ibis, Swallow-tailed Kite, Red-tailed
Hawk, three Limpkin, over 50 Grey Plover and over 60 Black Skimmer. We only saw
Limpkin at two sites in Florida and had previously seen them in Peru and
Argentina.
We stayed at Bonita Springs that evening
which is south of Fort Myers.
Tuesday
26th April: Shark Valley and
State Hwy 9336, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County
From Bonita Springs we drove eastwards though
Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Wildlife Reserve, with an
early morning stop at Shark Valley, at the head of
the Shark River Slough and part of Everglades National Park. Along the road
there were quite a few wetlands with many birds plus dead Alligators on the
roadside. Must make quite an impact driving over an Alligator.
The site at
Shark Valley had a visitor centre and organised birding walks. We did a birding
walk but that was a huge disappointment, with the guide battling to identify a
Snowy Egret, so we walked some of the roads and trails by ourselves before
heading off. Saw many more alligators and herons, but didn’t see anything new
for the trip.
Green Heron at Shark Valley |
We then took the back roads down to State Hwy
9336, which is the main entrance to the Everglades NP, seeing a couple of Burrowing
Owl in some agricultural lands close to the park entrance. We arrived just
before midday and spent the next five hours exploring the park. We initially
visited Anhinga Trail and then drove down to the Flamingo Visitor Centre for
lunch. We stopped in at Paurotis Pond bird rookery on the way back.
Anhinga Trail was very busy but we saw our
first American Crocodile there and had Grey Kingbird along the main trail. We
visited many of the small lakes and stop-off points during the afternoon, but
the Paurotis Pond bird rookery was by far the best site. We managed to see just
over 40 species of birds during the afternoon with highlights being over 30
Wood Stork, white form of the Great Blue Heron, Roseate Spoonbill,
Swallow-tailed Kite, the washed out form of Red-shouldered Hawk (race extimus),
White-crowned Pigeon and Pileated Woodpecker.
Wood Stork at Paurotis Pond bird rookery |
After the many excellent reserves and state
parks we had visited so far on our trip, the Everglades NP was pretty
disappointing and we didn’t bother going back for another visit. Reflecting on
the trip, there was nothing we missed at the Everglades, except Mangrove
Cuckoo, and there are more easily accessible and probably better sites down the
Florida Keys.
We stayed at the Quality Inn in Florida City
overnight and after having a very poor reception, cancelled our booking for a
further two nights we had for our return trip from the Florida Keys. We
rebooked accommodation at Tamarac and Vero Beach, both north of Miami, which was a good move.
Wednesday
27th April: Florida Keys
We left early in the morning for the drive
down the Florida Keys to Key West, stopping at various state parks on the way
down. Some impressive scenery along the way but it was a bit like a race track,
with everyone trying to get down to Key West as soon as possible. Plenty of
traffic police along the way, more so than anywhere else on our trip.
Florida City was a convenient location for access
to the Florida Keys and it was considerably cheaper to stay there. All the
accommodation on the Florida Keys is well over priced especially down at Key
West. We did eventually manage to find reasonable accommodation at Parmers
Resort on Little Torch Key which was within easy driving distance to Key West.
Driving through Key Largo, the first and
northernmost of the Florida Keys, we had our first Common Starling and Common Myna
for the trip, not a particular highlight but new birds for the USA list. We
also saw Magnificent Frigatebird, Osprey, Bald Eagle and Monk Parakeet from the
car.
Our first stop was Long Key State Park where
we had to wait till they opened the gates at 8am. We parked under some trees
and there was a Black-whiskered Vireo calling from the tree above the car as we
got out, one of the key targets for the Florida Keys and one of my easiest
lifers. The state park had some good walks and walkways though the mangroves
and along the coastal beaches.
The top bird for the morning was a Snail Kite
sitting on top of the mangroves on the loop trail, this being slightly out of
range, with these kites usually reported around the Everglades area and further
north in Florida. Other interesting birds included Belted Kingfisher, Ovenbird,
American Redstart, Blackpoll Warbler, Palm Warbler, Prairie Warbler and
Black-throated Green Warbler. The Prairie Warbler (race paludicola) is
interesting as in south Florida it’s restricted to mangrove habitats.
After two hours at Long Key SP, we drove down
to Curry Hammock State Park, which was a complete waste of time. We did however
see a huge Green Iguana as we were leaving.
Our next stop was Bahia Honda State Park,
which was very pleasant and was especially good for warblers. We saw a
Grey-cheeked Thrush plus nine species of warbler including Cape May, Magnolia,
Blackpoll, Palm and Black-throated Blue Warbler. However, the best warbler of
the day was the Yellow Warbler (Golden) which the IOC has split into the Mangrove
Warbler (Golden) race gundlachi. The gundlachi race of the Yellow or Mangrove
Warbler is a disjunct population found only in Cuba and Florida Keys, thus one
of the key targets for the trip. As with the Prairie Warbler the Mangrove
Warbler (Golden) is restricted to red mangrove habitats.
Coastal beaches at Bahia Honda State Park |
We left Bahia Honda SP just after midday and
continued our drive down to Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, which was
in Key West. A few days earlier, on Thursday 19th April, a Cuban
Vireo had been sighted at Fort Zachary. This was the first record for the USA
so understandably caused quite a bit of excitement. Unfortunately, the last
sighting was on Sunday 24th April and I met a group of USA birders
who had flown down to see the bird and missed it.
Birding at this state park
was good and the highlights were White-crowned Pigeon, Grey Kingbird,
Black-whiskered Kingbird, five species of warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak and
an adult male Dickcissel. We also saw quite a few Green Iguana which were in
the trees and often dropped to the ground as you walked past them.
Green Iguana on Key West |
In the late afternoon we drove half an hour
up the road to Parmers Resort on Little Torch Key. The resort was very pleasant,
being on the water’s edge and well away from the main road, although the
accommodation was very cramped. Went out looking for Mangrove Cuckoo amongst
the extensive mangroves but had no luck.
Thursday
28th April: Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park
The day cruise from Key West to Fort
Jefferson was one of the highlights for our trip and was superbly organised. We
left Little Torch Key early for a 7am check-in at the Key West harbour. The
boat was one of the Rottnest type fast ferries and was built in Fremantle in
Western Australia. On boarding the boat and setting off for the 2.5-hour trip
to Fort Jefferson, we were treated to an extensive breakfast, far superior to
any of the breakfasts provided at most American hotels. The boat was spacious,
air conditioned and we had some friendly company for the trip.
Not too much seen during the voyage until we
got to East Key, which is close to Fort Jefferson. We did a bit of a detour to
East Key and saw many Magnificent Frigatebird, Masked Booby, Common Noddy plus
Sooty, Least, Royal and Sandwich Tern around the island, which was not much
more than a sand bank.
After docking and disembarking we explored
the island and fort. A sumptuous lunch was provided back on board and the we
had until 2:30 pm to continue exploring the island. Snorkelling equipment was
provided by the tour company, free of charge and many went off to explore the
coral reefs.
Fort Jefferson |
Overhead we had about 30 Magnificent
Frigatebird constantly patrolling the skies, hundreds of Sooty Tern and Common
Noddy flying and roosting around the Garden Key area, plus many Ruddy Turnstone
along the beaches. It was hot and many of the birds were taking shelter either
within the walls of Fort Jefferson or in small clumps of bush outside of the
wall. We saw about 60 Cattle Egret, Merlin, Red-eyed and Black-whiskered Vireo,
Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Bobolink, Cliff Swallow plus eleven species of
warbler including Black-throated Blue, Palm, Pine, Prairie and Black-throated
Green Warbler.
Magnificent Frigatebird (female) |
We did see a nighthawk flying around within
the walled area of the fort. An Antillean Nighthawk had been reported there in
the previous week, so we were hoping for this bird. However, a group of
experienced USA birders noticed that the white wing bars were further down from
wing tip than the Antillean Nighthawk, indicating Common Nighthawk. In
addition, Yvonne heard the call as it took off and this confirmed Common
Nighthawk. According to the field guides these two nighthawks are virtually
impossible to distinguish except by voice, so I have to wonder if the previous
sightings were correct?
The other bird of interest was a Black Noddy,
which is a rare bird for the USA and the Dry Tortugas is the only regular site
in the USA, which has a few sub-adult birds during summer. A Black Noddy had
been photographed and reported on eBird a week prior, so many birders were
scanning the many Common Noddy with their spotting scopes. I spent a lot of
time scanning the roosting site close to the fort which had many Common Noddy.
I couldn’t find any Black Noddy and no-one else I spoke to on the trip managed
to locate one either.
View from Fort Jefferson overlooking Garden Key, the off-limits nesting area for about 4,500 Common Noddy |
All too soon we had to leave and we had an
uneventful trip back to Key West and were entertained by the ship’s crew. Fort
Jefferson is a place that would be worthwhile camping for the night and having
more time to explore at leisure.
Commercial bird tour companies offer tours
from Miami to Fort Jefferson, with some chartering a small boat from Key West which
allows for overnight trips. The cost for these trips are ridiculously expensive
and I don’t think we missed anything on our trip. We certainly had plenty of
experienced birders on the trip and if there was something special to see, news
would have spread very quickly.
Many of these commercial birding tours also
have a day around the Miami area for the introduced birds, such as Egyptian
goose, many parrots, Red-whiskered Bulbul plus Hill and Common Myna. Nearly
70 species of parrots have been recorded flying free at some stage in Miami,
including Hyacinth Macaws. Most of these exotic birds are not on the
official ABA list but others such as the Spot-breasted Oriole, a native of
Central America, is one of the exotics to make the list. We didn’t have any
interest in chasing exotics but did see Egyptian Goose as we drove through
Miami.
On the drive back to Little Torch Key, we
visited an area of mangroves on Sugarloaf Key, where Mangrove Cuckoo had been
seen a couple of days earlier. Didn’t
have any luck finding the cuckoo.
Friday
29th April: Florida Keys
After breakfast, we spent some time exploring
the adjacent Middle Torch Key, taking a walk through mangroves and stopping at
various spots along the road where there was suitable habitat for Mangrove
Cuckoo. Didn’t manage to find any cuckoos but did have three White-crowned
Pigeon flying overhead.
Our next stop was at Bahia Honda State Park
where we saw 17 species of birds including Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Magnolia
Warbler, Mangrove Warbler (Golden) and Blackpoll Warbler.
We then had a short stop at Long Key State Park
with Rose-breasted Grosbeak seen. We left the state park at midday and
continued our drive towards Miami with three Golden Eagle seen further up the
Florida Keys. Driving past Fuchs Park in Miami we noticed a couple of Egyptian
Goose plus six Muscovy Duck, both being established ferals for Florida.
After surviving some horrific driving on the
freeways around Miami, the worst for our entire trip, we arrived at the Comfort
Suites Hotel in Tamarac. This part of Miami, well north of the CBD was very
pleasant and a lot better than Florida City where we had originally planned to
stay.
Saturday
30th April: Loxahatchee NWR
and Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP
After breakfast, we took a short drove northwards
to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Reserve. This was an excellent reserve and
spans over 140,000 acres of northern Everglades wetlands. We visited the ponds
just to the south of Lee Road looking for the Smooth-billed Ani, which breeds
there annually. For the couple of hours at the reserve we had 30 species of
birds including Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night-heron, 30 Glossy Ibis, Swallow-tailed
Kite, 12 Limpkin and two Nanday Parakeet.
We met up with other birders who showed us
their photo of an Ani. They were also looking for the Smooth-billed Ani and had
been told by the local ranger that their photo was of a Groove-billed Ani, a
bird more commonly seen along the Rio Grande River in Texas. After having a
second look at the photos, I realised they were actually of a Smooth-billed Ani.
Shortly afterwards we had the Smooth-billed Ani sitting up in a shrub, a few
meters away. Quite a few other birders managed to see the Ani that morning.
Smooth-billed Ani |
Leaving the reserve, we stopped in at
Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market, at the entrance to the reserve, and bought some
freshly baked goodies to keep us going. We headed northwest to Lake Okeechobee,
which was pretty impressive and then onto the Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park.
Around the Taylor Creek area on Hwy 98N in Okeechobee County, we had a couple
of American Flamingo fly over, which was a great sighting. We also had Sandhill
Crane in the adjacent farmlands, the only ones seen on this trip.
We spent a couple of hours at Kissimmee
Prairie Preserve State Park, which was very pleasant. Interesting birds
included Northern Bobwhite, Swallow-tailed Kite, Common Ground-dove, Crested
Caracara, American Redstart and Blackpoll Warbler.
We then drove down to the east coast of Florida
to stay at Vero Beach for the night.
Sunday
1st May: St. Sebastian River
Preserve SP and Merritt Island, Brevard County
After breakfast, we spent just over three
hours at St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, just north of Vero Beach.
This site preserves the open grassy forests of longleaf pine that were once
commonplace throughout Florida and has Red-cockaded Woodpecker nesting in the
area. The typical scrubby flatwoods have an open canopy of widely spaced pine
trees and a low, shrubby understory dominated by scrub oaks and saw palmetto,
often interspersed with areas of barren white sand. The understory is being
actively managed by ploughing and burning in order to protect the habitat for
Red-cockaded Woodpecker and other species.
We walked various trails through the pine
trees and saw some interesting birds including Wild Turkey, Wood Stork,
Swallow-tailed Kite, three Red-shouldered Hawk up close, Chimney Swift, Pine
Warbler and Eastern Towhee (yellow eye). We did see a small woodpecker as we
arrived but it was moving quickly through the pine trees and we didn’t manage
to get good enough views to identify it.
We then took the very scenic coastal drive up
to Merritt Island stopping off at the Rotary Park on Merritt Island for lunch.
Very pleasant park with plenty of good birding habitat and a walkway through
the forested area. Interesting birds seen included Fish Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Worm-eating
Warbler, Common Yellowthroat and American Redstart, the latter birds being in
the trees around the picnic area.
We checked into the Quality Inn at
Titusville, our accommodation for the next three nights, and visited the Merritt
Island National Wildlife Reserve in the late afternoon, arriving just after
5pm. We did the Black Point Wildlife Drive which was excellent with plenty of
birds on the various ponds. Interesting birds included many Tricoloured Heron,
four Reddish Egret, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Bald Eagle and a
few waders.
We then drove down to the Scrub Ridge Trail
on Mosquito Lagoon, an appropriate name for the mosquito infected area, with
swarms of small mosquitos. I walked the Scrub Ridge Trail but didn’t manage to find
any Florida Scrub-Jay. As often happens, Yvonne had seen them in the car park
and I had good views around the car park of three Florida Scrub-Jay just before
sunset.
These were to be the only Florida Scrub-Jay
we saw on our trip and was the last of the Jays and Scrub-Jays we needed for
the USA. Unfortunately, due to habitat destruction the Florida Scrub-Jay is now
classified as a threatened species, and the healthy
population of birds that once ranged all along the Atlantic coast has been
fragmented into isolated communities. The Florida Scrub-Jay lives in a highly
specialized territory, where tall trees provide canopy cover over no more than
20% of an area. In the ideal habitat, oaks between one and three metres height cover
between 50 and 90% of an area, whilst sparse vegetation no higher than 150mm
covers the remaining region. Fire is essential for maintaining Scrub-Jay
habitat and the area needs to be burned every 5 to 20 years in order to keep
scrub vegetation at the proper height.
Monday
2nd May: Merritt Island NWR,
Brevard County and Hal Scott Regional Preserve, Orange County
After breakfast, we headed down to Merritt
Island for the morning’s birding, before heavy rain came in at about midday. We
did the Black Point Wildlife Drive in the early morning, followed by Scrub
Ridge Trail and then Haulover Canal where we saw quite a few Manatee.
The best
bird for the morning was a Short-tailed Hawk, a white morph bird, possibly
juvenile. The hawk had a white underbody and white wing linings contrasting
with darker secondaries and primaries, plus shortish tail with wide dark sub-terminal
band plus thinner bands.
Saw 45 species during the morning including Mottled
Duck, Northern Bobwhite, Pied-billed Grebe, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wilson’s
Plover, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper, Black Skimmer, Northern Flicker and
Pileated Woodpecker.
Storm clouds building up over the Merritt Island wetlands |
We headed back to the hotel and once the rain
has cleared up in the late afternoon, drove towards Orlando to the Hal Scott
Regional Preserve arriving at about 5:30pm. This preserve has over 9,000 acres of
flatwoods and open prairie, and straddles the Econlockhatchee River in east
Orange County. This was another nesting area for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker
but after extensive searching over a couple of hours, I didn’t manage to find
any RCW’s. I did see a Great Horned Owl in the late afternoon, a couple of
Common Nighthawk flying overhead before sunset and calling, Brown-headed
Nuthatch and Pileated Woodpecker.
Tuesday
3rd May: Kennedy Space Centre
Had a great day at the Kennedy Space Centre,
just down the road from Titusville on Merritt Island. The space centre visitor
complex was very well organised and had various attractions such as the Space
Shuttle Atlantis Centre, the Rocket Garden, couple of souvenir shops and two
IMAX theatres. The entry ticket also included the bus tour of the Apollo /
Saturn V centre and rocket launching sites. At the Space Shuttle Atlantis Centre,
we watched a film on the history of the space shuttle development, then had
close up views of the actual space shuttle and I did the Shuttle Launch Experience,
which was fascinating.
Space Shuttle Atlantis |
We then took the KSC bus tour and visited the
Apollo / Saturn V Centre for close up views of the Saturn V rocket, the largest
rocket ever made, and space museum which was impressive. The tour around the
rocket launching sites was also impressive. Back at the main KSC visitor
centre, we watched one of the IMAX films “Journey to Space” which was
excellent.
Saturn V Rocket |
After a relaxing afternoon, we went to Dixie
Crossroads Seafood Restaurant, a very popular restaurant and recommended in many
trip reports. After waiting a bit to get a table, we had the excellent seafood
platter “Dixie Spectacular” with delicious Maine Lobster, Rock Shrimp, Scallops
and Crab Legs.
Wednesday
4th May: Olustee Battlefield
Historic SP, Baker County, Florida and Okefenokee NWR, Charlton County, Georgia
Leaving behind some very wet and stormy
weather, we drove northwards towards Jacksonville and then westwards to the Olustee
Battlefield Historic State Park. This was another nesting area for the
Red-cockaded Woodpecker although I didn’t manage to find any. Not much in the
way of birds except for Red-headed and Red-bellied Woodpecker plus Pine
Warbler. The state park did have an interesting visitor centre with details on
the civil war.
We then drove northwards into Georgia to the Okefenokee
National Wildlife Reserve arriving just before 1pm. This was an excellent park
to visit, with an informative visitor centre, a historic homestead and elevated walkways through the swamps to a viewing tower. I asked about the RCW
at the visitor centre and the staff were very helpful and showed me some photos
taken the previous day of young RCW chicks taken from a monitored nest for
ringing. This park had marked the RCW nesting trees with white bands and the
visitor centre staff told us exactly where to find the RCW. We had to stay
on the roads as the actual nesting areas were off limits for visitors.
Swamps at Okefenokee |
We decided to stay at the park till sunset
and visited the RCW nesting area, the historic Chesser Island Homestead and took
a walk to the viewing tower during the afternoon. Birding highlights included
Black-crowned Night-heron, Red-headed, Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy and Pileated
Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Eastern Towhee and
Blue Grosbeak. We also saw about 12 snakes of various species during the visit.
In the late afternoon, we headed back to the
RCW nesting area. I wandered off to do some birding and a bit later Yvonne
called me to come and have a look. She had just seen about four or five RCW’s
fly in into the nesting area. I managed to see at least two RCW foraging for
food in among the pine trees and then returning to their nests. The woodpeckers
are quite small and fly quickly to their nests, landing on the tree for a short
time before diving into the nest. As they move quickly through the pine
forests, it’s evident that they can be difficult to find unless one stakes out
their nesting sites. So after much searching we had finally seen the Red-cockaded
Woodpecker.
We left the park just before 5pm and drove
down to Brunswick on the coast of Georgia.
Thursday
5th May: Sewee Visitors Centre
and Santee Coastal Reserve, Charleston County, South Carolina
We continued northwards into South Carolina
with a short stop off at the Sewee Visitors Centre. This small reserve has Red
Wolf and we saw one in an enclosure which was a bit of a disappointment. It
would have been better to see them on St. Vincent Island, close to where we
stayed at Port St Joe in Florida, which is currently the only active island propagation
site. However, visiting the St. Vincent Island National Wildlife Refuge, a 12,300-acre
undeveloped barrier island, would have required a full day’s visit involving a
boat shuttle and extensive hiking.
Our next stop was the Santee Coastal Reserve,
just south of Georgetown, arriving there at midday. A very pleasant reserve
with a variety of habitats from wetlands to wooded areas. Interesting birds
included Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Wood Duck, Wood Stork, Mississippi Kite,
Acadian Flycatcher, Brown Thrasher, Northern Parula and Brown-headed Cowbird.
We left at about 2:30pm and drove across the
waterways feeding into Winyah Bay, to the Quality Inn and Suites in
Georgetown. In the evening we had a good seafood meal at the River Room
Restaurant, in the historic part of Georgetown on the waterfront. Along the
waterfront we saw Common Nighthawk and Purple Martin.
Friday
6th May: Pawleys Island and Brookgreen
Botanical Gardens, Georgetown County, South Carolina
After breakfast, we made a short visit to the
public beach on the southern end of Pawleys Island, seeing over 100
Semipalmated Plover, Grey Plover, American Golden Plover, Sanderling, Least
Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Ring-billed Gull and Least Tern.
Unfortunately, most of the beaches we tried to visit were closed to the public
and had private access only.
Brookgreen Gardens |
We then spent the morning at the extensive
Brookgreen Botanical Gardens which was very pleasant. Over 30 species of birds
seen at the gardens including Swallow-tailed Kite, Bald Eagle, King Rail
(heard), White-breasted Nuthatch, Swainson’s Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Cedar
Waxwing, Summer Tanager and House Finch.
One of the many statues at Brookgreen |
After lunch we stopped in at Pawleys Island
again for a brief visit. There is a salt marsh at the end of the north causeway
but we couldn’t find it and far too many signs say Private Residence, No
Trespassing, Private etc., so we had enough of the place and went back to the
hotel. Pawleys Island may be of interest for local residents but Huntington
Beach State Park a bit further up the coast was far superior and is
considered by many to be the best birding spot in South Carolina.
Saturday
7th May: Huntington Beach
State Park, Georgetown County
After breakfast, we drove up the coast to
Huntington Beach SP. This was an excellent park, with extensive wetlands,
coastal forests and beaches, plus plenty of parking, trails and picnic areas.
Highlights for the mornings birding included two Black Scoter, an adult male and
female/ juvenile seen swimming about 100m offshore, Common Loon flying up the
coast, Bald Eagle, Black-throated Blue Warbler and about 14 Painted Bunting
which included six adult males. A range of waders, terns and gulls was also
seen.
Just offshore we saw a couple of Loggerhead
Turtle swimming, these are huge turtles with massive heads. The turtles nest on
the beaches of Huntington Beach NP between May and October. Local rangers
protect the nests with a steel wire cage that is buried into the ground to keep
canine predators out.
We drove down the road for lunch and then
returned to the state park in mid-afternoon. By now the tidal wetlands were
fully exposed and the tide was starting to come in. The causeway area was full
of egrets, herons and waders, including Little Blue Heron, Grey Plover, about
60 Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper,
Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Sanderling, about 40 Dunlin, Least Sandpiper,
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper and Short-billed Dowitcher. The majority
of the waders were in breeding plumage and easy to observe from the causeway,
enabling good comparisons to be made between the various species.
Wetlands next to causeway at Huntington Beach State Park |
Other interesting birds for the afternoon
were five species of tern, including Gull-billed and Sandwich Tern, Common
Nighthawk, Brown Thrasher and more Painted Bunting. Overall a good days birding
with just under 60 species for the day.
Sunday
8th May: Congaree Swamp
National Park, Richland County, South Carolina
We now left the coast and headed inland
though some scenic countryside, up into the Piedmont country, to Columbia. The
Piedmont is a plateau region located between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey to central Alabama.
On the way we visited the Congaree National
Park, a huge park of over 26,000 acres which preserves the largest tract of old
growth bottomland hardwood forest left in the United States. The park had an
excellent visitor centre and we got some tips from the visitor centre staff on
where to see Barred Owl and other specialties for the park.
Mosquito Meter |
The park has excellent walking trails and
elevated platforms and we took the Boardwalk Loop and Sims Trail. After a while
we located a Barred Owl sitting on an open branch, which then flew down to the water’s
edge looking for Crawfish.
Barred Owl |
Saw just over 20 species of birds in the
forest and around the car park such as Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson’s Thrush, Wood
Thrush, plus six species of warbler including Prothonotary, Tennessee, Hooded,
Black-throated Blue and Yellow-throated Warbler.
Monday
9th May: Kings Mountain
National Military Park, York County, South Carolina
We headed further inland to the Kings
Mountain National Military Park, west of Charlotte, and then onto Asheville in
North Carolina, our base for the next three nights.
The visit to Kings Mountain visitor centre was very
interesting and we learnt a bit more about the early American history. The
Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive victory for the Patriot militia over
the Loyalist militia in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary
War. The battle took place on October 1780 and effectively the arrogant British
were wiped out by the locals.
We took a circular walk around the hill which
had information boards along the way. Saw about 20 birds on the walk including
Broad-winged Hawk, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Pine Warbler and White-breasted
Nuthatch.
Stayed at the Quality Inn and Suites
Biltmore in Asheville which was a lovely hotel and convenient for accessing the
Blue Ridge Parkway.
Tuesday
10th May: Blue Ridge Parkway,
Buncombe County, North Carolina
We spent the day on the Blue Ridge Parkway
which traverses the Appalachian Ranges. We travelled northeast from Asheville
up past the Craggy Gardens Visitor Centre to the Minerals Museum in the Pisgah
National Forest. This has to be one of the most scenic roads we travelled on,
the road wasn’t busy and had many pulloffs, which was great for birding and
taking in the views.
Appalachian Ranges |
At one of the early stops we met up with a group
of birders and saw several Chestnut-sided Warbler, a bird we had missed earlier
in our trip. These birds were now in their breeding range and we saw quite a
few over the next couple of days. They usually occur in leafy second-growth woods,
clearings, and thickets.
Chestnut-sided Warbler |
At another stop we managed to see a couple of
Canada Warbler, a striking warbler that is a summer resident of moist, shady
woods. It usually stays in the understory, feeding in the bushes or on the
ground, so can be hard to see in this dense cover.
A bit further on, in the higher elevations,
we found a Blackburnian Warbler which was a good bird to see. It breeds in
boreal coniferous and mixed forests, especially spruce and hemlock. In southern
part of breeding range in Appalachians, it can inhabit completely deciduous
forests.
So three new warblers for our trip, at a
stage when it was becoming hard to find any new birds. Looking at the
distribution maps for the Chestnut-sided, Canada and Blackburnian Warbler, they
all breed in the Appalachian Ranges which runs southwest, as far south as
Georgia. This is evident on the range maps which shows a long spur running
southwest for the summer breeding ranges.
Other interesting birds for the day included
Common Raven, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, House
Wren at nest, Hermit Thrush, Dark-eyed Junco (slate-coloured), Eastern Towhee
and Indigo Bunting.
Red-breasted Nuthatch |
On the way back we stopped in at the Folk Art
Centre just outside of Asheville, which had some impressive artwork but very
expensive.
Wednesday
11th May: Great Smoky
Mountains NP, Swain County, North Carolina
We left early and spent the morning at the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a huge park of over 500,000 acres, divided
between North Carolina and Tennessee. The weather was threatening with heavy
clouds, mist and some heavy rain showers, so not conducive to much walking or birding.
We saw close to 30 species for the morning with the highlight being Ruffed
Grouse, the only one we saw on this trip. Other birds included Eastern
Wood-Pewee, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch, four species of warbler
including Blackburnian and Orange-crowned Warbler, plus Savannah and Song
Sparrow.
The national park was impressive although we
didn’t see much of the park due to the misty and wet conditions. We did visit
the Oconoluftee Visitor Centre, the Mountain Farm Museum, Mingus
Mill which was built in 1886 and uses a water-powered turbine for milling, and
some of the picnic sites. The main access road, which runs from the visitor
centre up to Newfound Gap on the border with Tennessee, was very busy and
wasn’t a pleasant drive in the wet conditions.
Mingus Mill |
At midday we went to the local Indian village
of Cherokee for lunch and some shopping. Drove back to Asheville in the late afternoon.
Thursday
12th May: Blue Ridge Parkway,
Henderson County, North Carolina
We left early and spent about six hours travelling
along the Blue Ridge Parkway, southwest of Asheville. We drove up to Mt Pisgah and
then further along the Blue Ridge Parkway, after which we drove through to
Blairsville in Georgia, our base for the next three nights.
Appalachian Ranges |
This section of the Blue Ridge Parkway was
different to the north-eastern section, with what appeared to be sparser
vegetation, higher elevations and more exposed areas, with Mt Pisgah rising to
over 1,700m. It was evident that the trees came into leaf later on the exposed
sides of the mountain ridges. The scenery along the way was quite spectacular.
For the first section of road to Mt Pisgah produced some interesting birds included Wild Turkey, Winter Wren, Brown Trasher, Ovenbird, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and Blue Grosbeak. The section of the Blue Ridge Parkway after Mt Pisgah produced Chimney Swift, Blue Jay and more Chestnut-sided Warbler.
The drive through to Blairsville was very
scenic and the roads fairly quiet, although we did have some heavy rain.
Friday
13th May: Gumlog Gap Road,
Union County, Georgia
We had more heavy rain overnight which
cleared up by the morning. We headed up into the forests of the nearby Chattahoochee
National Forest, taking the Gumlog Gap Road, a rough track, for several
kilometres before walking a fair distance further up the track. The main target
bird was the Cerulean Warbler, which I didn’t manage to locate. Only saw 19
birds in the five hours of birding, including Black-billed Cuckoo which
flew in and landed in tree just overhead, Pileated Woodpecker, Worm-eating
Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler and Scarlet
Tanager.
Had dinner at Mike's Seafood Market in the
evening, a rustic venue which was very popular with the locals and serves up
excellent seafood.
Saturday
14th May: Brasstown Bald,
Union County, Georgia
It was cold (10oC) and sunny as we drove up
to the peak of Brasstown Bald arriving at 8:30am. Brasstown Bald at just under
1,500m is the highest natural point in the state of Georgia. We took the steep walk from the car park up to the visitor centre and had some great views of the
surround countryside.
Managed to see 20 species of birds in the
morning as it became increasingly windy and unpleasant. Interesting birds
included four Broad-winged Hawk flying just overhead at the visitor centre,
Cooper’s Hawk, Veery, Ovenbird, Louisiana Waterthrush, Black-and-white Warbler,
Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Canada Warbler (adult
male) and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Along the walk leading south from the parking
area there were quite a few clumps of Pink Lady’s Slipper, a species of orchid.
Pink Lady's Slipper orchid |
On the way back to Blairsville we took a
scenic drive though the hills which unfortunately was quite busy with weekend
traffic.
Sunday
15th May: Wheeler NWR, Morgan
County and Bankhead NF, Lawrence County, Alabama
We left early for our drive westwards to
Decatur in Alabama, leaving Georgia and travelling through a scenic part of
Tennessee, before entering northern Alabama. The drive through the mountainous
terrain of the Cohutta Wilderness, an area of over 37,000 acres, and the shores
of Lake Ocoee were particularly scenic.
We arrived in Decatur just after 10am and
drove to the Wheeler National Wildlife Reserve, to find that the park was
closed on Sundays. We went to the day use part of the park and managed to do a
short walk through the forests, after getting permission to cross a foot bridge
which was being reconstructed. In the couple of hours at this site, we saw just
14 species including three species of woodpecker, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Great
Crested Flycatcher.
We then headed over to Point Mallard Park
where there were some pleasant walks through a small wooded area. We had our
Sunday lunch at the popular Cracker Barrel in Courtland, these restaurants
serving up good home style meals, our favourite restaurant chain for this trip.
After checking into our hotel in Decatur, we
took a drive to the Bankhead National Forest arriving at about 6:30pm. We
visited the Bordon Creek Trail and had a look for Cerulean Warbler, which we
didn’t find. We did have Eastern Screech Owl calling around sunset and also saw
Worm-eating Warbler and Yellow-throated Warbler.
Monday
16th May: Bankhead National Forest,
Lawrence County, Alabama
After breakfast, we drove back to Bankhead
National Forest and I took a walk along the river, to an area where most of the
recent Cerulean Warbler sightings had been made. Spent close to four hours on
the Bordon Creek Trail and eventually managed to identify the calls of at least
two Cerulean Warbler in the tall trees alongside the river. The preferred
habitat for Cerulean Warbler are deciduous forests, especially in river valleys,
and it breeds in mature hardwoods either in uplands or along streams. The
sky-blue upperparts of the male Cerulean Warbler are difficult to observe in
summer and the birds tend to stay high up in the tops of leafy trees.
The call of the Cerulean Warbler is similar
to the Black-throated Blue Warbler and this can lead to confusion, however I
only saw Black-throated Green Warbler in these low elevation forests. The
Black-throated Green Warbler were readily seen in the forest mid-level, where
they prefer to forage, and tended to be further up on the slopes of the forest.
As the call of Black-throated Green Warbler can be readily distinguished from
the call of the Cerulean Warbler, I was confident of my identification.
There have been no sightings on eBird for
Black-throated Blue Warbler at Bankhead National Forest, whereas the
Black-throated Green Warbler is frequently reported. From what I observed in
the Appalachian Ranges, the preferred breeding area for the Black-throated
Green Warbler was in the lower elevation forests, whereas the Black-throated
Blue Warbler preferred the higher elevation forests.
Other interesting birds for the morning
included Pileated Woodpecker, Acadian Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Worm-eating
Warbler, Hooded Warbler and Scarlet Tanager.
Pileated Woodpecker |
Just after midday we continued our trip
westwards through Mississippi, to arrive at the Best Western in Tunica Resorts,
in the late afternoon. This was to be our base for the next two nights and the
hotel was located just south of Memphis, close to the Mississippi River.
Tuesday
17th May: Maxson Wastewater
Lagoons and T.O. Fuller State Park, Shelby County, Tennessee and Hernando
DeSoto River Park, DeSoto County, Mississippi
After breakfast we drove up to Memphis,
crossing into Tennessee, for a morning’s visit to the Maxson Wastewater Lagoons.
These were quite smelly sewage ponds but are one of the best birding sites in
the Memphis area. There were no signs, fences or gates and the roads had been
recently modified, which meant that the birding site descriptions were well out
of date. After asking around and visiting the main offices, we managed to get
into the right area for birding and the site workers were friendly and helpful.
The various sludge ponds had many waders
however a spotting scope was essential to identify some of the distant waders
on the larger ponds. Over 40 birds seen in just over three hours including
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Canada Goose, Northern Bobwhite, American Avocet,
Solitary Sandpiper, Stilt Sandpiper, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, about 40 Pectoral
Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher,
Chimney Swift, Cliff Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Grasshopper
Sparrow, twelve Dickcissel and American Goldfinch.
We then headed over to the TO Fuller State
Park in the nearby forests for lunch. Some lovely birds around the picnic site
including close up views of Mississippi Kite, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk,
Downy Woodpecker, Swainson’s Thrush, Worm-eating Warbler and Chipping Sparrow.
Strongly flowing Mississippi River |
After lunch we drove down to the Mississippi
River and stopped off at the Hernando DeSoto River Park which was very pleasant
and right next to the mighty Mississippi River. Saw 35 species of birds, in the
two hours at the park, including two Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Red-headed
Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Louisiana
Waterthrush, Prothonotary Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler,
many Indigo Bunting, Orchard Oriole and two Baltimore Oriole.
Wednesday
18th May: Bald Knob NWR,
White County and Lake Hamilton, Garland County, Arkansas
After breakfast we drove up to Memphis and
then headed westwards over the Mississippi River into Arkansas. We spent about
three hours at the Bald Knob National Wildlife Reserve, arriving just after
9am, where it was cold with heavy rain clouds and very windy, not the best
conditions for birding.
The reserve was quite pleasant to visit and
we saw just over 30 species of birds including two Snow Goose, Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Dickcissel and
about 24 Bobolink. Also had a Diamondback Water Snake swimming in a pond
alongside one of the paths.
We then drove down through Little Rock and
onto Hot Springs, staying at the Long Island Lake Resort for three nights. The
resort was well off the main roads and overlooked the lake, so a very pleasant
place to stay. In addition, we had a
small kitchen, so had some home cooked meals which was a welcome change to all
those restaurant meals.
View from our room at Long Island Lake Resort |
Walking around Long Island in the late
afternoon had some good birding with close to 30 birds seen, including
Red-tailed Hawk, Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted), Eastern
Wood-Pewee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren (two adults
and two fledglings), Eastern Bluebird and American Redstart.
Thursday
19th May: Andrew H. Hulsey
State Fish Hatchery, Garland County, Arkansas
The original plan was to visit the Ouachita
National Forest which has an IBA for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, nesting in a
habitat of Shortleaf Pine and Bluestem Grass. As we had already seen the RCW,
the best birding site in the Hot Springs area appeared to be the fish hatchery. I was
now targeting a few of the flycatchers which had been reported recently in the Arkansas area.
The Andrew H. Hulsey State Fish Hatchery was conveniently
close to where we were staying and allows free access to their fish ponds. The
hatchery has a range of habitats, from Lake Hamilton on the western boundary,
the various fish ponds with some drained exposing mud, to the forested areas on
the southern and eastern boundaries.
Had a very pleasant morning, with 46 species
of birds seen over the four-hour visit. Highlights were 12 Wood Duck, many
Green Heron, Red-shouldered Hawk, Spotted Sandpiper, Lesser Yellowlegs,
Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Acadian Flycatcher, Willow
Flycatcher (drab olive grey flycatcher with lack of yellow/green colour of
Acadian and lack of distinctive white eye ring), Eastern Phoebe, Eastern
Kingbird, at least 10 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo,
Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Purple Martin, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted
Titmouse, Marsh Wren (seen and heard in long grass alongside ponds, small wren
with cocked tail, bold white supercilium, white markings on back with rich
colours of eastern race), Brown Thrasher, Common Yellowthroat and two Wilson’s
Warbler.
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
In the afternoon we did some shopping in Hot
Springs. Our Garmin SatNav was only working intermittently and we had ordered a
new one through Amazon, which arrived on schedule at our resort that afternoon.
We had some heavy rain in the late afternoon
and it cleared up by the evening. After the rain, sitting out on the resort
balcony, we saw Mississippi Kite, at least 12 Common Nighthawk hawking insects
on skyline and about 20 Purple Martin hawking insects with nighthawks.
Friday
20th May: Andrew H. Hulsey
State Fish Hatchery, Garland County, Arkansas
As there weren’t any other birding areas
close to Hot Springs, which may have had any target birds I still needed, I
went back to the fish hatchery for the morning. I also wanted to get a second
look at the flycatchers and focussed my efforts on the forested parts of the
hatchery boundaries.
During the morning visit of about 4.5 hours,
I saw 49 species of birds. Highlights were Mississippi Kite, Red-shouldered
Kite (feeding on edge of ponds being harassed by crow), Upland Sandpiper
(flushed from mown grass on side of ponds, a large buffy wader with small head,
long neck, yellow legs and dark rump through to centre of tail), Olive-sided
Flycatcher (large dark grey flycatcher with white throat and dark breast with
white down centre of breast, no eye ring evident and mostly dark bill with some
yellow at base), Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Willow Flycatcher (dull
olive brown bird with indistinct white eye ring, whitish wing bars and white
throat plus brownish breast band), Great Crested Flycatcher, Marsh Wren (seen
in the exact same spot as the previous day) and about 10 Eastern Bluebird.
So over the two days at the fish hatchery, I
recorded 60 species of birds, for a site that doesn’t seem to be that well
known. According to eBird, 191 species have been seen with only 42 checklists
recorded, so it’s a site that has a lot of potential.
Saturday
21st May: Red Slough WMA,
McCurtain County, Oklahoma
After breakfast, we drove through to Idabel
in Oklahoma and then just south to the Red Slough Wildlife Management Area.
Arrived at about 10am and spent just over three hours exploring the various
wetlands.
Some pleasant birding in warm and humid
conditions, with 36 species seen, including 12 Mississippi Kite, King Rail
(heard), Yellow-billed Cuckoo, over 20 Eastern Kingbird, Prothonotary Warbler, Common
Yellowthroat, Pine Warbler, four Painted Bunting and five Dickcissel. For a
popular birding site, with over 300 species recorded from 1200 eBird checklists,
we found it a bit uninspiring.
Explored the area around the WMA and also
Idabel, and then checked into our hotel in Idabel for the night.
Sunday
22nd May: Hagerman NWR,
Grayson County, Texas
Instead of revisiting the Red Slough WMA,
which didn’t have any recent sightings of target birds I still needed, we drove
through to the Hagerman National Wildlife Reserve north of Dallas. This was an
extensive reserve with quite varied habitats, from wetlands to grasslands and
forested areas, and had some good birding. The wildflowers at this time of year
were quite spectacular. This website (www.friendsofhagerman.com/wildflowers)
gives an idea of what flowers can be seen at Hagerman NWR.
Hudsonian Godwit had been sighted here
earlier in the week and that would have been a good bird to add to my USA bird
list, although I have seen it in South America and even in Melbourne,
Australia. Following the recent flooding in the Dallas area, the water levels
were still quite high at Hagerman NWR, although there was now some exposed mud
as the water levels were dropping.
We saw close to 50 species of birds during
the five-hour visit. Highlights were Redhead, Bald Eagle, Stilt Sandpiper, a
single Baird’s Sandpiper, about 30 White-rumped Sandpiper, many Semipalmated
Sandpiper, Franklin’s Gull, Least Tern (Interior race), Black Tern in breeding
plumage, Greater Roadrunner, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler and at least 30 Dickcissel. The Dickcissel were all
over the grassed areas, calling and displaying from the top of the tall grass and
wildflowers.
Displaying Dickcissel |
Most of the waders were in breeding plumage
and it was good to catch up with Baird’s and White-rumped Sandpiper after
missing them so far on the trip. I have seen both sandpiper in Canada but it
was great to see them in breeding plumage and to spend time identifying them. I
have also seen White-rumped Sandpiper just south of Sydney, which is a major rarity for
Australia.
In the mid-afternoon we drove south to
Dallas, through the complex and busy freeways, to our accommodation close to
the DFW airport.
Monday
23rd May: Dallas – Fort Worth,
Texas
We did some shopping in the morning and had
lunch at the Outback Steakhouse, which had good steaks. This was supposed to be
an Australian restaurant, but other than some photos of Australia, had nothing on
the menu that resembled any Australian outback food.
We dropped the AVIS rental car off at DFW and
then took the shuttle bus back to the hotel in the afternoon. Our flight back
to Sydney left just after 10pm and we had no queues getting through border
control and security, in fact must be one of the easiest exits we have done
anywhere. The Qantas Club lounge wasn’t crowded, unlike Los Angeles, and we had
some good food there. Don’t remember much on the A380 flight back and slept
most of the way back to Sydney.
Birding
Resources
Sibley
Birds of North America, iPhone App
National
Geographic Birds: Field Guide to North America, iPhone App
Mammals of North America, iPhone App
Field
Guide to the Birds of North America, National Geographic, 6th Edition by Jon
Dunn and Jonathan Alderfer
A
Birder’s Guide to Planning North American Trips,
ABA Birdfinding Guide, Jerry A Cooper
eBird,
used extensively to find the best birding areas along our trip and for daily
updates of rarities
The National Geographic iPhone app was used
extensively although the Sibley app provided a useful comparison at times.
Mammals
The following mammals were identifed and recorded:
Sirenia
Manatees (Trichechidae)
West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)
Cingulata
Armadillos (Dasypodidae)
Nine-banded Armadillo [sp] (Dasypus novemcinctus)
Rodentia
Squirrels & Marmots (Sciuridae)
Eastern Grey Squirrel [sp] (Sciurus carolinensis)
Eastern Fox Squirrel [sp] (Sciurus niger)
American Red Squirrel [sp] (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
Mexican Ground Squirrel [sp] (Spermophilus mexicanus)
Eastern Chipmunk [sp] (Tamias striatus)
Lagomorpha
Rabbits and Hares (Leporidae)
Eastern Cottontail [sp] (Sylvilagus floridanus)
Chiroptera
Free-tailed Bats (Molossidae)
Brazilian Free-tailed Bat [sp] (Tadarida brasiliensis)
Carnivora
Dogs (Canidae)
Coyote [sp] (Canis latrans)
Mustelids (Mustelidae)
North American River Otter [sp] (Lontra canadensis)
American Mink [sp] (Neovison vison)
Raccoons (Procyonidae)
Common Raccoon [sp] (Procyon lotor)
Artiodactyla
Peccaries (Tayassuidae)
Collared Peccary [sp] (Pecari tajacu)
Deer (Cervidae)
White-tailed Deer [sp] (Odocoileus virginianus)
Cetacea
Ocean Dolphins (Delphinidae)
Bottlenose Dolphin [sp] (Tursiops truncatus)
Reptiles
The following reptiles were identified and recorded:
Testudines - Turtles
Terrapins (Emydidae)
Florida Red-bellied Turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni)
Pond Slider [sp] (Trachemys scripta)
Tortoises (Testudinidae)
Florida Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)
Soft-shelled Turtles (Trionychidae)
Smooth Softshell [sp] (Apalone mutica)
Sea Turtles (Cheloniidae)
Loggerhead Turtle [sp] (Caretta caretta)
Squamata
Anoles (Dactyloidae)
Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis)
Iguanas and Spinytail Iguanas (Iguanidae)
Common Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)
Earless, Spiny, Tree, Side-blotched and Horned Lizards (Phrynosomatidae)
Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus)
WhiptailsWhiptails and Tegus (Teiidae)
Texas Spotted Whiptail (Aspidoscelis gularis)
Ophidia (Serpentes) - Snakes
Colubrids (Colubridae)
North American Racer [sp] (Coluber constrictor)
Watersnakes (Natricidae)
Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata)
Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer)
Western Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis proximus)
Eastern Ribbon Snake [sp] (Thamnophis sauritus)
Vipers and Pit Vipers (Viperidae)
Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix)
Cottonmouth [sp] (Agkistrodon piscivorus)
Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)
Crocodylia - Crocodiles etc.
Crocodiles (Crocodylidae)
American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)
Alligators & Caimans (Alligatoridae)
American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)
Birds
The list of birds recorded, using IOC taxonomy (May 2016), was
as follows:
ANSERIFORMES
Ducks, Geese and Swans (Anatidae)
Black-bellied Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna autumnalis)
Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)
Snow Goose [sp] (Chen caerulescens)
Canada Goose [sp] (Branta canadensis)
Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca)
Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata)
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
Gadwall [sp] (Anas strepera)
Mallard [sp] (Anas platyrhynchos)
Mottled Duck [sp] (Anas fulvigula)
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
Cinnamon Teal [sp] (Anas cyanoptera)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Eurasian Teal [sp] (Anas crecca)
Green-winged Teal (Anas carolinensis)
Redhead (Aythya americana)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
Black Scoter (Melanitta americana)
Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)
GALLIFORMES
Chachalacas, Curassows and Guans (Cracidae)
Plain Chachalaca [sp] (Ortalis vetula)
New World Quail (Odontophoridae)
Scaled Quail [sp] (Callipepla squamata)
Northern Bobwhite [sp] (Colinus virginianus)
Montezuma Quail [sp] (Cyrtonyx montezumae)
Pheasants and allies (Phasianidae)
Wild Turkey [sp] (Meleagris gallopavo)
Ruffed Grouse [sp] (Bonasa umbellus)
Greater Prairie Chicken [sp] (Tympanuchus cupido)
GAVIIFORMES
Loons (Gaviidae)
Common Loon (Gavia immer)
PODICIPEDIFORMES
Grebes (Podicipedidae)
Least Grebe [sp] (Tachybaptus dominicus)
Pied-billed Grebe [sp] (Podilymbus podiceps)
PHOENICOPTERIFORMES
Flamingos (Phoenicopteridae)
American Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber)
CICONIIFORMES
Storks (Ciconiidae)
Wood Stork (Mycteria americana)
PELECANIFORMES
Ibises, Spoonbills (Threskiornithidae)
American White Ibis [sp] (Eudocimus albus)
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi)
Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)
Herons, Bitterns (Ardeidae)
American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)
Least Bittern [sp] (Ixobrychus exilis)
Black-crowned Night Heron [sp] (Nycticorax nycticorax)
Yellow-crowned Night Heron [sp] (Nyctanassa violacea)
Green Heron [sp] (Butorides virescens)
Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis)
Great Blue Heron [sp] (Ardea herodias)
Great Egret [sp] (Ardea alba)
Reddish Egret [sp] (Egretta rufescens)
Tricolored Heron [sp] (Egretta tricolor)
Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
Snowy Egret [sp] (Egretta thula)
Pelicans (Pelecanidae)
American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
Brown Pelican [sp] (Pelecanus occidentalis)
SULIFORMES
Frigatebirds (Fregatidae)
Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens)
Gannets, Boobies (Sulidae)
Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)
Masked Booby [sp] (Sula dactylatra)
Cormorants, Shags (Phalacrocoracidae)
Neotropic Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax brasilianus)
Double-crested Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Anhingas, Darters (Anhingidae)
Anhinga [sp] (Anhinga anhinga)
ACCIPITRIFORMES
New World Vultures (Cathartidae)
Turkey Vulture [sp] (Cathartes aura)
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)
Ospreys (Pandionidae)
Western Osprey [sp] (Pandion haliaetus)
Kites, Hawks and Eagles (Accipitridae)
White-tailed Kite [sp] (Elanus leucurus)
Swallow-tailed Kite [sp] (Elanoides forficatus)
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)
Bald Eagle [sp] (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis)
Snail Kite [sp] (Rostrhamus sociabilis)
Common Black Hawk [sp] (Buteogallus anthracinus)
Harris's Hawk [sp] (Parabuteo unicinctus)
White-tailed Hawk [sp] (Geranoaetus albicaudatus)
Grey Hawk (Buteo plagiatus)
Red-shouldered Hawk [sp] (Buteo lineatus)
Broad-winged Hawk [sp] (Buteo platypterus)
Short-tailed Hawk [sp] (Buteo brachyurus)
Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni)
Red-tailed Hawk [sp] (Buteo jamaicensis)
GRUIFORMES
Rails, Crakes and Coots (Rallidae)
Clapper Rail [sp] (Rallus crepitans)
King Rail [sp] (Rallus elegans)
Virginia Rail [sp] (Rallus limicola)
Sora (Porzana carolina)
Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus)
Common Gallinule [sp] (Gallinula galeata)
American Coot [sp] (Fulica americana)
Cranes (Gruidae)
Sandhill Crane [sp] (Grus canadensis)
Whooping Crane (Grus americana)
Limpkin (Aramidae)
Limpkin [sp] (Aramus guarauna)
CHARADRIIFORMES
Oystercatchers (Haematopodidae)
American Oystercatcher [sp] (Haematopus palliatus)
Stilts, Avocets (Recurvirostridae)
Black-necked Stilt [sp] (Himantopus mexicanus)
American Avocet (Recurvirostra americana)
Plovers (Charadriidae)
American Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica)
Grey Plover [sp] (Pluvialis squatarola)
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
Wilson's Plover [sp] (Charadrius wilsonia)
Killdeer [sp] (Charadrius vociferus)
Piping Plover [sp] (Charadrius melodus)
Snowy Plover [sp] (Charadrius nivosus)
Sandpipers, Snipes (Scolopacidae)
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
Short-billed Dowitcher [sp] (Limnodromus griseus)
Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus)
Marbled Godwit [sp] (Limosa fedoa)
Whimbrel [sp] (Numenius phaeopus)
Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
Solitary Sandpiper [sp] (Tringa solitaria)
Willet [sp] (Tringa semipalmata)
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius)
Ruddy Turnstone [sp] (Arenaria interpres)
Red Knot [sp] (Calidris canutus)
Sanderling [sp] (Calidris alba)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
White-rumped Sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis)
Baird's Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii)
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos)
Dunlin [sp] (Calidris alpina)
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus)
Wilson's Phalarope (Phalaropus tricolor)
Gulls, Terns and Skimmers (Laridae)
Brown Noddy [sp] (Anous stolidus)
Black Skimmer [sp] (Rynchops niger)
Laughing Gull [sp] (Leucophaeus atricilla)
Franklin's Gull (Leucophaeus pipixcan)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
American Herring Gull (Larus smithsonianus)
Gull-billed Tern [sp] (Gelochelidon nilotica)
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)
Royal Tern [sp] (Thalasseus maximus)
Cabot's Tern [sp] (Thalasseus acuflavidus)
Least Tern [sp] (Sternula antillarum)
Sooty Tern [sp] (Onychoprion fuscatus)
Common Tern [sp] (Sterna hirundo)
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
Black Tern [sp] (Chlidonias niger)
COLUMBIFORMES
Pigeons, Doves (Columbidae)
Rock Dove [sp] (Columba livia)
White-crowned Pigeon (Patagioenas leucocephala)
Eurasian Collared Dove [sp] (Streptopelia decaocto)
Inca Dove (Columbina inca)
Common Ground Dove [sp] (Columbina passerina)
White-tipped Dove [sp] (Leptotila verreauxi)
Mourning Dove [sp] (Zenaida macroura)
White-winged Dove [sp] (Zenaida asiatica)
CUCULIFORMES
Cuckoos (Cuculidae)
Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani)
Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus)
STRIGIFORMES
Barn Owls (Tytonidae)
Western Barn Owl [sp] (Tyto alba)
Owls (Strigidae)
Eastern Screech Owl [sp] (Megascops asio)
Western Screech Owl [sp] (Megascops kennicottii)
Great Horned Owl [sp] (Bubo virginianus)
Barred Owl (Strix varia)
Elf Owl [sp] (Micrathene whitneyi)
Burrowing Owl [sp] (Athene cunicularia)
CAPRIMULGIFORMES
Nightjars (Caprimulgidae)
Lesser Nighthawk [sp] (Chordeiles acutipennis)
Common Nighthawk [sp] (Chordeiles minor)
Pauraque [sp] (Nyctidromus albicollis)
Common Poorwill [sp] (Phalaenoptilus nuttallii)
Chuck-will's-widow (Antrostomus carolinensis)
Apodiformes
Swifts (Apodidae)
Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)
White-throated Swift [sp] (Aeronautes saxatalis)
Hummingbirds (Trochilidae)
Buff-bellied Hummingbird [sp] (Amazilia yucatanensis)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri)
CORACIIFORMES
Kingfishers (Alcedinidae)
Green Kingfisher [sp] (Chloroceryle americana)
Ringed Kingfisher [sp] (Megaceryle torquata)
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
PICIFORMES
Woodpeckers (Picidae)
Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)
Acorn Woodpecker [sp] (Melanerpes formicivorus)
Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
Ladder-backed Woodpecker [sp] (Dryobates scalaris)
Downy Woodpecker [sp] (Dryobates pubescens)
Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Leuconotopicus borealis)
Hairy Woodpecker [sp] (Leuconotopicus villosus)
Northern Flicker [sp] (Colaptes auratus)
Pileated Woodpecker [sp] (Dryocopus pileatus)
FALCONIFORMES
Caracaras, Falcons (Falconidae)
Northern Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway)
American Kestrel [sp] (Falco sparverius)
Merlin [sp] (Falco columbarius)
Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus)
Peregrine Falcon [sp] (Falco peregrinus)
PSITTACIFORMES
African and New World Parrots (Psittacidae)
Monk Parakeet [sp] (Myiopsitta monachus)
Red-crowned Amazon (Amazona viridigenalis)
Nanday Parakeet (Aratinga nenday)
PASSERIFORMES
Tyrant Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet (Camptostoma imberbe)
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)
Black Phoebe [sp] (Sayornis nigricans)
Say's Phoebe [sp] (Sayornis saya)
Olive-sided Flycatcher (Contopus cooperi)
Eastern Wood Pewee (Contopus virens)
Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens)
Willow Flycatcher [sp] (Empidonax traillii)
Vermilion Flycatcher [sp] (Pyrocephalus rubinus)
Great Kiskadee [sp] (Pitangus sulphuratus)
Couch's Kingbird (Tyrannus couchii)
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Tyrannus forficatus)
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
Grey Kingbird [sp] (Tyrannus dominicensis)
Ash-throated Flycatcher [sp] (Myiarchus cinerascens)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
Brown-crested Flycatcher [sp] (Myiarchus tyrannulus)
Shrikes (Laniidae)
Loggerhead Shrike [sp] (Lanius ludovicianus)
Vireos, Greenlets (Vireonidae)
White-eyed Vireo [sp] (Vireo griseus)
Bell's Vireo [sp] (Vireo bellii)
Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla)
Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons)
Cassin's Vireo [sp] (Vireo cassinii)
Blue-headed Vireo [sp] (Vireo solitarius)
Hutton's Vireo [sp] (Vireo huttoni)
Warbling Vireo [sp] (Vireo gilvus)
Philadelphia Vireo (Vireo philadelphicus)
Red-eyed Vireo [sp] (Vireo olivaceus)
Black-whiskered Vireo [sp] (Vireo altiloquus)
Crows, Jays (Corvidae)
Green Jay [sp] (Cyanocorax luxuosus)
Blue Jay [sp] (Cyanocitta cristata)
Mexican Jay [sp] (Aphelocoma wollweberi)
Woodhouse's Scrub Jay [sp] (Aphelocoma woodhouseii)
Florida Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens)
American Crow [sp] (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus)
Northern Raven [sp] (Corvus corax)
Chihuahuan Raven (Corvus cryptoleucus)
Waxwings (Bombycillidae)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Silky-flycatchers (Ptiliogonatidae)
Phainopepla [sp] (Phainopepla nitens)
Tits, Chickadees (Paridae)
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
Black-crested Titmouse [sp] (Baeolophus atricristatus)
Carolina Chickadee [sp] (Poecile carolinensis)
Penduline Tits (Remizidae)
Verdin [sp] (Auriparus flaviceps)
Swallows, Martins (Hirundinidae)
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
Purple Martin [sp] (Progne subis)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow [sp] (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
Barn Swallow [sp] (Hirundo rustica)
American Cliff Swallow [sp] (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
Cave Swallow [sp] (Petrochelidon fulva)
Bushtits (Aegithalidae)
American Bushtit [sp] (Psaltriparus minimus)
Goldcrests, Kinglets (Regulidae)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet [sp] (Regulus calendula)
Wrens (Troglodytidae)
Cactus Wren [sp] (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
Rock Wren [sp] (Salpinctes obsoletus)
Canyon Wren [sp] (Catherpes mexicanus)
Marsh Wren [sp] (Cistothorus palustris)
Bewick's Wren [sp] (Thryomanes bewickii)
Carolina Wren [sp] (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
Winter Wren [sp] (Troglodytes hiemalis)
House Wren [sp] (Troglodytes aedon)
Gnatcatchers (Polioptilidae)
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher [sp] (Polioptila caerulea)
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher [sp] (Polioptila melanura)
Nuthatches (Sittidae)
Brown-headed Nuthatch [sp] (Sitta pusilla)
Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)
White-breasted Nuthatch [sp] (Sitta carolinensis)
Treecreepers (Certhiidae)
Brown Creeper [sp] (Certhia americana)
Mockingbirds, Thrashers (Mimidae)
Grey Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
Northern Mockingbird [sp] (Mimus polyglottos)
Brown Thrasher [sp] (Toxostoma rufum)
Long-billed Thrasher [sp] (Toxostoma longirostre)
Curve-billed Thrasher [sp] (Toxostoma curvirostre)
Starlings, Rhabdornis (Sturnidae)
Common Myna [sp] (Acridotheres tristis)
Common Starling [sp] (Sturnus vulgaris)
Thrushes (Turdidae)
Eastern Bluebird [sp] (Sialia sialis)
Western Bluebird [sp] (Sialia mexicana)
Veery [sp] (Catharus fuscescens)
Grey-cheeked Thrush [sp] (Catharus minimus)
Swainson's Thrush [sp] (Catharus ustulatus)
Hermit Thrush [sp] (Catharus guttatus)
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
Clay-colored Thrush [sp] (Turdus grayi)
American Robin [sp] (Turdus migratorius)
Old World Sparrows, Snowfinches (Passeridae)
House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)
Wagtails, Pipits (Motacillidae)
Buff-bellied Pipit [sp] (Anthus rubescens)
Finches (Fringillidae)
House Finch [sp] (Haemorhous mexicanus)
American Goldfinch [sp] (Spinus tristis)
Lesser Goldfinch [sp] (Spinus psaltria)
Pine Siskin [sp] (Spinus pinus)
New World Warblers (Parulidae)
Ovenbird [sp] (Seiurus aurocapilla)
Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum)
Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla)
Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)
Swainson's Warbler (Limnothlypis swainsonii)
Tennessee Warbler (Leiothlypis peregrina)
Orange-crowned Warbler [sp] (Leiothlypis celata)
Colima Warbler (Leiothlypis crissalis)
Lucy's Warbler (Leiothlypis luciae)
Nashville Warbler [sp] (Leiothlypis ruficapilla)
MacGillivray's Warbler [sp] (Geothlypis tolmiei)
Kentucky Warbler (Geothlypis formosa)
Common Yellowthroat [sp] (Geothlypis trichas)
Hooded Warbler (Setophaga citrina)
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)
Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina)
Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea)
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)
Magnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia)
Blackburnian Warbler (Setophaga fusca)
American Yellow Warbler [sp] (Setophaga aestiva)
Mangrove Warbler [sp] (Setophaga petechia)
Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica)
Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata)
Black-throated Blue Warbler (Setophaga caerulescens)
Palm Warbler [sp] (Setophaga palmarum)
Pine Warbler [sp] (Setophaga pinus)
Myrtle Warbler (Setophaga coronata)
Audubon's Warbler [sp] (Setophaga auduboni)
Yellow-throated Warbler [sp] (Setophaga dominica)
Prairie Warbler [sp] (Setophaga discolor)
Golden-cheeked Warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia)
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)
Canada Warbler (Cardellina canadensis)
Wilson's Warbler [sp] (Cardellina pusilla)
Family Uncertain (Incertae Sedis 2)
Yellow-breasted Chat [sp] (Icteria virens)
Oropendolas, Orioles and Blackbirds (Icteridae)
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)
Eastern Meadowlark [sp] (Sturnella magna)
Scott's Oriole (Icterus parisorum)
Altamira Oriole [sp] (Icterus gularis)
Bullock's Oriole (Icterus bullockii)
Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
Hooded Oriole [sp] (Icterus cucullatus)
Orchard Oriole [sp] (Icterus spurius)
Red-winged Blackbird [sp] (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Bronzed Cowbird [sp] (Molothrus aeneus)
Brown-headed Cowbird [sp] (Molothrus ater)
Brewer's Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus)
Common Grackle [sp] (Quiscalus quiscula)
Boat-tailed Grackle [sp] (Quiscalus major)
Great-tailed Grackle [sp] (Quiscalus mexicanus)
Buntings, New World Sparrows and allies (Emberizidae)
Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys)
Song Sparrow [sp] (Melospiza melodia)
Lincoln's Sparrow [sp] (Melospiza lincolnii)
Swamp Sparrow [sp] (Melospiza georgiana)
White-crowned Sparrow [sp] (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
Dark-eyed Junco [sp] (Junco hyemalis)
Savannah Sparrow [sp] (Passerculus sandwichensis)
Seaside Sparrow [sp] (Ammodramus maritimus)
Grasshopper Sparrow [sp] (Ammodramus savannarum)
Chipping Sparrow [sp] (Spizella passerina)
Field Sparrow [sp] (Spizella pusilla)
Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida)
Brewer's Sparrow [sp] (Spizella breweri)
Vesper Sparrow [sp] (Pooecetes gramineus)
Black-throated Sparrow [sp] (Amphispiza bilineata)
Cassin's Sparrow (Peucaea cassinii)
Bachman's Sparrow [sp] (Peucaea aestivalis)
Rufous-crowned Sparrow [sp] (Aimophila ruficeps)
Green-tailed Towhee (Pipilo chlorurus)
Spotted Towhee [sp] (Pipilo maculatus)
Eastern Towhee [sp] (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)
Canyon Towhee [sp] (Melozone fusca)
Olive Sparrow [sp] (Arremonops rufivirgatus)
Tanagers and allies (Thraupidae)
White-collared Seedeater [sp] (Sporophila torqueola)
Cardinals, Grosbeaks and allies (Cardinalidae)
Summer Tanager [sp] (Piranga rubra)
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)
Northern Cardinal [sp] (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Pyrrhuloxia [sp] (Cardinalis sinuatus)
Dickcissel (Spiza americana)
Blue Grosbeak [sp] (Passerina caerulea)
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)
Painted Bunting [sp] (Passerina ciris)
Great trip Bruce...on my wishlist!
ReplyDelete