Saturday March 11th - Key Biscayne and Homestead

 

Saturday March 11th Key Biscayne and Homestead

          This morning we got an early start and headed for Key Biscayne which is a barrier island across the Rickenbacker Causeway from Miami.  We were searching for a La Sagra’s Flycatcher at Crandon Park which would have been a life bird for us.  The La Sagra’s is a very rare visitor from the Bahamas and Cuba and can occasionally be found in brushy woods and shrubs in southeastern Florida.  Usually, one or two are recorded annually.  We were at the park for about two hours and were unable to find the bird.  We did find a nice variety of warblers and other birds there.  FOY birds seen at Crandon Park:

Palm Warbler                                         Ovenbird

Common Yellowthroat                             Gray Catbird

Black-and-white Warbler                        White-eyed Vireo

Louisiana Waterthrush

          From here we drove through lots of Miami traffic and 1 ½ hours later ended up at the Homestead General Airport which is in a very rural area west of Homestead.  We were looking for both a Smooth-billed Ani AND a Groove-billed Ani which are both rare birds in south Florida.  The Smooth-billed Ani was formerly an uncommon resident occurring in small groups but is now a rare visitor seen only a few times a year. 

          Generally, the Groove-billed Ani is an uncommon summer visitor from Mexico that is seen most often along the Texas border.  The range of these two birds doesn’t usually overlap but for whatever reason these two turned up together and are associating with each other.  The Smooth-billed Ani would have been an ABA lifer for us. 

          We drove along a gravel road that bordered the fenced-in airport and arrived at the location where the bird had been seen.  We met a birding guide who was there with a client.  When they first arrived, they met other birders who had seen the birds 5 minutes earlier!  However, the guide had been there for an hour with no luck.  Also, I was not particularly comfortable because there were a lot of guns being fired nearby.

          We looked around for a while, went back to Homestead for lunch and came back to check one more time.  No luck.  Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don’t! 

FOY birds seen at the Homestead Airport:

Eastern Meadowlark

Savannah Sparrow

Tree Swallow

Loggerhead Shrike

                                           Louisiana Waterthrush


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