March 13, 2014

Today was awesome! I went to Larry & Penny Thompson Memorial Park, next door to ZooMiami. I had only 50 minutes before I needed to head out to work, which gave me just enough time to walk around the large lake there. Plenty of unoccupied nests, but no confirmed breeding activity. I saw a lot of species and I'll definitely need to return to explore all the wooded areas.

A Turkey Vulture demonstrating Staffelmauser, the German word for sequential molt. Most birds only grow their flight feathers once per year. Some drop all their feathers at once and become flightless for a while, but others molt sequentially in order to maintain their flying ability, as seen here.

Red-bellied Woodpecker trying not to look responsible for those holes in the tree (but he is).

Double-crested Cormorant. They don't have as much waterproofing oil on their feathers as other birds so that they can sink underwater more easily and catch fish.

Red-winged Blackbird.

The highlight of the day: a Bald Eagle! Sorry for the terrible quality; I spent so much time squinting my eyes as he flew towards me, thinking "What is that?" that I only got this one photo.

I had a hard time identifying this guy, but I eventually settled on Palm Warbler. I'll come back to this to make sure.

Not sure if all of these guys are Ring-billed Gulls, but at least one of them is (the guy on the center-right facing to the left with the black spot on his bill).

Osprey

Another new species for the blog: Brown Thrasher. They're related to mockingbirds and like mockingbirds, they have very impressive singing.

March 12, 2014

Yesterday's trip was a frustrating one to Bill Sadowski Park, which is one of Miami's top birding locations. I know I heard A LOT more than I saw and saw A LOT more than I could photograph. No breeding evidence, but there were two new species to the blog.

Blue-headed Vireo

Cedar Waxwing

March 11, 2014

Today's trip was a new adventure, mostly because I wasted the day away and tried to squeeze a trip in right before I had to be somewhere. I went to Fuchs Park in South Miami and saw 8 species (plus one I didn't identify). I literally put a 30 minute timer on myself and went for it. Didn't make for the best pictures, but it was fun (in a slightly stressful way) to be on a timer.

Muscovy Ducks

White Ibis

Eurasian Collared Dove

Green Heron

No idea what this Common Moorhen is carrying in its mouth. They were louder here than I've ever heard them. Maybe defending a nest or territory?

Turkey Vultures are lighter all along the trailing edge of their wings.

Black Vultures have silver just at the tips of their wings.

Literally in my last 30 seconds, I got this shot. Red-masked Parakeet

Not the most productive trip. I'll be better with the rest of the week.

March 10, 2014

Today's trip was to Dante Fascell Park. I heard a lot more than I was able to see. Plus work called me in early, cutting my trip short, but I still managed to photograph a new species for the blog. I also learned that this park is apparently squirrel central. Anywhere I looked, there would always be a squirrel in my line of sight.

Pied-billed Grebe

I'm going with juvenile Cooper's Hawk.

This picture may be slightly more in focus, but we can't see any face. He flew off after this.

The new species, a non-native species. Red-masked Parakeets. These guys were harassing the Red-bellied Woodpeckers.

Northern Cardinal. Apparently they eat leaves; I watched him eat a few small ones before flying off.

In other news, my cardinal record from yesterday was reviewed and accepted! Though there are 535 confirmed cardinal breeding records in Florida (out of the 5,805 blocks in Florida), only 4 of those records are in Miami-Dade.

March 7, 2014

Today's excursion was to Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park in North Miami. Their bird list is extensive but I only saw 10 species, mainly warblers. The trip was worth it though because I found a new confirmed breeding record for the Atlas. Let the breeding season begin!!!

Unidentified raptor. It looks like he's maybe eating something he caught in his talons. There were two of them flying around.

Our friend the Palm Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler. A lot of birds are pretty literally named for what they look like.

Unidentified warbler eating unidentified berries.

And the breeding record! A female Northern Cardinal carrying nesting material. That counts in the Atlas as a confirmed record, plus these will be the first observations in this block for this Atlas AND only the 4th confirmed Cardinal record for Miami-Dade. We are so behind down here; get out there and find some birds people!

In even more exciting news, my previous 4 records (3 Anhingas and the Egyptian Goose) have finally been reviewed and accepted! Anhingas weren't recorded in Miami-Dade before my records, so that's a new species! The first Atlas from 1986-1991 found 120 species confirmed breeding in Dade and we're at 40 right now. When people want to look at long-term trends in environmental indicators, this will be one of the top resources they look to. We can't let there be such a gaping hole in the scientific record; get out there and bird!

This is the current Atlas map for Anhingas. The dark green squares in Miami-Dade County are my sightings!

March 6, 2014

Today's trip was to Kendall Indian Hammocks Park. I trudged through the poorly marked trails in the hammock, but most of my success was out in the open areas. I was actually ready to give up on this spot, but in my last 20ish minutes I found two new species. Lots of nests, but I didn't see anyone entering or leaving them. I'll have to return when I've assembled my camera on a stick.

Black-and-white Warbler

Cattle Egret high-steppin' it. There was another one he might have been displaying to. This is breeding plumage.

Not the best picture, but the reddish markings on the chest, the yellow, and the dark head make me pretty certain this is a Northern Parula.

Exciting find #1: Short-tailed Hawk. This is the dark phase; they also come in a lighter, white version. I believe this one might be a juvenile because of the white on him.

Same Hawk. Did you know there are only an estimated 500 in Florida? They're mostly a South American bird.

Again, not the best picture. Prairie Warbler.

March 4, 2014

Yesterday I walked around Cutler Wetlands and the surrounding area. The angle of the sun and my unwillingness to walk through the water to get closer shots (plus my inexperience) really hindered the photos you're about to see. But it added a few new species to my list and provoked some interesting questions.

Blue-winged Teal

Some kind of ibis I think.

Mottled Ducks.

American Kestrel

Little Blue Heron that I assume was eating something or vocalizing?

Some kind of raptor. Again, can't tell which kind. If it turns out to be a Turkey Vulture I'm going to be really embarrassed...

Some kind of tern. This is especially interesting because terns aren't really reported at this location at this time of year. Too bad I can't identify it

I spent a lot of time agonizing over this photo: Common Grackle or Boat-tailed Grackle? I went with Boat-tailed

This wasn't taken at Cutler Wetlands, but it's a new species for the blog. Loggerhead Shrike! They impale their prey on sharp sticks and barbed wire

There was minimal breeding evidence: some species being in breeding plumage and Red-winged Blackbird males calling territorially. But I'll only be contributing records that I'm sure of to the Atlas, which includes a bird building a nest, a bird on a nest, or young chicks. This brings up an scientific method question that I'm sure most citizen science projects face: Do I submit everything, even the data I'm not sure of, and risk submitting incorrect information or do I censor my data and risk not submitting data I don't realize are important? Decisions, decisions....