Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

In between hauling tree limbs out of the pool, and surveying downed trees in my yard, there was a lot of activity in my yard today. First thing in the morning there was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo on a downed strangler fig limb, mixing it up with a Blue Jay and a Mockingbird. Also saw 5 Redstarts, Ovenbird, Prairie, 2 B&W, several Gnatcatchers, 8 Barn Swallows, and Cooper's Hawk. At least one of the local gallinules made it through. Full list will be posted to eBird.

Stayed at my brother's home near The Falls during hurricane. After seeing that he had minor damage, we wanted to see what birds made it through the damage. We had the usual residents, exotics (White-winged Dove, C. Hill Myna, 3 Spot-breasted Orioles (2imm) and several Scaly-breasted Munia). Monk Parakeets and sturdy nest survived the winds too. Regarding migrants we had Barn Swallow, BG Gnatchers, Worm-eating Warbler, Am Redstart (commonest migrant), Prairie Warbler, N Parula and a female BT Blue,
Later in the day I made it to my home near Kendall Indian Hammocks. I went to that park and birded the main hammock. The canopy is thinned out but the large live oaks fared well. The main path is blocked at several points so I had to retrack several times. I had a couple of White-crowned Pigeons, Gnatcatchers, Worm-eating Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, N Parula, Prairie Warbler and at least 22 Am Redstarts.

Same stuff up here in Boca Raton - lots of trees downed or badly stripped - many limbs, branches, and leaves ended up in my pool and all over my yard. I have several very tall and thick trees behind the wall at the back of my yard as well as my neighbor's yard that I know from past experience tends to attract lots of migrant birds, but making them almost impossible to see or find because the foliage is so thick they can hide. Now, those trees are extremely bare, and very exposed with much of the canopies stripped, and suddenly you can see almost all the way through, so while in my pool yesterday cleaning out all the debris, I was noticing the activity: blue jays, cardinals, doves, and grackles who are yard regulars were all out and about, plus BG gnatcatchers, American redstarts, prairie warbler, black and white warbler, parulas, and one hard-to-identify bird that I think might have been a female summer tanager - yellow to greenish in parts with a fairly thick looking bill.

Visited Kendall Indian Hammocks this morning. A chain saw will be needed to negotiate the hammock trails (I left mine in my other fanny pack). ;)

Birds seen in the oak hammocks included White-crowned Pigeon, Chuck-will's-widow, Yellow-throated Vireo and eight species of warblers, including Cape May. My complete eBird checklist is at https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S39142272.