Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

Eight birders participated in Tropical Audubon Society's annual fall field trip to Shark Valley and Loop Road on Saturday, October 29, 2016. Blustery winds, overcast skies and lower humidity kept the weather conditions quite comfortable and we were able to dodge the intermittent, misty rains. Thankfully, mosquitoes were almost nonexistent. Water levels in both locations were extremely high so water-birds were at a minimum. Fifty-six (56) species, including eleven (11) warblers, were tallied including:

Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Red-shouldered Hawk
Limpkin (Shark Valley)
Kildeer
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Common Ground-Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker (Loop Road)
Pileated Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
House Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Green
Prairie Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Northern Cardinal
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird

Note: John Boyd and Ann Wiley spotted a rare Lapland Longspur on the drive back east on Loop Road after the group had split up. See the Birdboard for October 29th for details, including John’s excellent photograph.

Several Dragonflies (including Green Skimmer, Black Saddlebag Skimmer and Halloween Pennants)
Black Witch Moth
Liguus Fasciatus FloridaTree Snails
An unidentified small fruit tree with 1” diameter yellow fruit and notched leaves with small thorns at the base of each leaf stem was seen where we had lunch in the Loop Road Campground. The fruit has a large seed and is sweet. Don’t worry – it was not a deadly Manchineel tree. I have a photograph if anybody is interested in taking a shot at identifying it. It was probably the result of a camper throwing the seeds of the fruit into the West Indian Hardwood Hammock where it germinated.

Life is good..........................exploring Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress National Preserve.