Wow! And I thought tomorrow was going to be the big day for the blog! I got out of work today and literally sat in my car for a few minutes, debating: Do I go bird or go home? Well I went birding and WOW will I never have to ask that question again. If today is any indication, the answer is: always bird!
I went to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne, which started off as kind of a slow trip considering it was 4 PM on a crowded Sunday. But then I made my way over to the Crandon Park Gardens and that's where all the action was.
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| Palm Warbler |
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| Even though I did a TERRIBLE job taking this photo, it's the best view of that red eye ring. That's breeding plumage y'all. Ring-billed Gull |
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| I didn't know Gray Catbirds have red butts |
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I guess picking trash through the grate of a garbage can is kinda like picking flesh out of a carcass...
Turkey Vulture |
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| Not a one-footed kestrel (I hope...), but a kestrel resting on one foot |
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| European Starling. Non-native |
And here is where the Crandon Garden pictures start!
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| At first I really didn't like this place because it was non-native heaven. There were dozens of peafowl and people were letting their kids chase them around (which I would not advise because in my experience, they are rather mean birds with a vicious kick). |
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| Red-winged Blackbird |
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| Palm Warbler. You can begin to see why birding takes years and years to master. How many Palm Warbler pictures have I posted and yet they all look slightly different. |
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| Common Moorhen |
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| The first exciting experience: a Canada Goose with a leg band! |
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| Ok, so we know the number ends in 97 (but you will never know how many blurry pictures I took of this bird's leg) |
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| Unfortunately I'm not 100% if that's just 2-9 or 4-2-9. Please weigh in |
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| Sandhill Cranes! The first time I've ever seen this species |
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| Mourning Doves |
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| Second exciting thing! Breeding evidence! I'll have to e-mail the Breeding Bird Atlas coordinator to see if this counts. It might not count because the chick is old enough to be mobile, so there's no guarantee he was born in this block. Egyptian Geese |
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| Pied-billed Grebe. In this photo you can see what they're named for: pied usually means two-toned, so the black and white bill |
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| Tricolored Heron and White Ibis |
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| Great Egret |
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| Last exciting thing! A Great Blue Heron with a prey item! I'll have to ask my herpetologist buddy for confirmation, but it appears to me to be a juvenile Florida Softshell Turtle |
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| Eyes bigger than his stomach? Great Blues have been known to kill things too big to swallow |
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| New strategy: impale it. This poor guy looks like he's been chomped on before. There were crocodile/alligator warning signs posted. |
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| He managed to fit it in his mouth?!? |
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| He managed to swallow it?!!?!? |
Unfortunately, I took so many pictures of the Canada Goose and the Great Blue Heron that my battery promptly died. Thank you Nikon companion of mine for holding out as long as you did! I may need to buy a second battery or a car charger or something if I keep doing this to myself. Thanks for tuning in to the most exciting day of the blog so far!
Welcome to Crandon Park! This location is one of the only spots for shorebirds like the Piping Plover in Miami-Dade County. The gardens were initially under the care of volunteers who naively purchased lots of birds and improperly managed them. Egyptian Geese were one of the first birds to be released on the property and have been breeding there for years. Some people credit this for being one of the major starting points of their expansion into South Florida. Along with the geese and peacocks, the Mississippi race of Sandhill Crane was brought and they are permanent residents of Crandon (the original pair are pinioned and cannot fly) along with the banded Cackling Goose you have a photo of. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteThat helps so much! Thank you Rangel!
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