TOP 10 SPECIES
Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of
each tour.
DRY TORTUGAS Trip Report
by Mike Haldeman, Tour Leader
18-22 April 2002
This year's trip to the Dry Tortugas was another highly successful one. The weather did not produce any large fallouts but we still managed to find many amazing birds.
After making our way out of Miami we began our drive through the Keys to Key West. A few stops along US 1 produced such specialties as Great 'White' Heron, Reddish Egret, and two cooperative Burrowing Owls. On our side trip to No Name Key we were rewarded with excellent views of a Mangrove Cuckoo calling near the edge of the road, a close flyover from a Swallow-tailed Kite, and a diminutive 'Key' Deer feeding at close range. In Key West a stop at some local feeders yielded twenty White-crowned Pigeons.
The next morning we left early on the Yankee Freedom for our three days on the Dry Tortugas. Not far out of Key West we already had 15 Roseate Terns and two Brown Boobies perched on navigational buoys. Since the weather was cooperative we were able to travel via deeper water where several Bridled Terns on floating debris allowed close approach and an Audubon's Shearwater passed by near enough for an adequate look. Upon our arrival at Fort Jefferson we were greeted by thousands of nesting Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies as well as the only nesting colony of Magnificent Frigatebirds in the continental US. But instead of dwelling on this spectacle, we immediately headed for the north coaling docks to search for the Black Noddy that had been reported there several days earlier. Within fifteen minutes we could all breathe a sigh of relief and study this vagrant tern that had not been seen in the US during the previous three years.
Inside Fort Jefferson we found a nice diversity of migrants even though the number of birds was not high. We saw 18 species of warblers including Swainson's Warbler plus several Black-whiskered Vireos. The raptors were in full force with Merlins, American Kestrels, and Sharp-shinned Hawks patrolling for songbirds, and a Peregrine Falcon making regular sweeps over the tern colony. Walks around the moat by day and night produced amazing reef creatures such as a Reef Squid, Nurse Shark, a few Spotted Sea Hares, Queen Conch, Yellow Stingray, an enormous Cushion Sea Star, and amazing fishes including a French Angelfish and several Parrotfish. Our afternoon excursion to Loggerhead Key gave several participants the chance to snorkel on one of our country's least disturbed reefs, while the rest of us walked the small island and found the Cuban race of Short-eared Owl and some male Bobolinks. On our return to the Fort we swung by Hospital Key to look at over twenty Masked Boobies that nest there, the only ones in the United States.
After our return to Key West and an unsuccessful try for Antillean Nighthawk on Stock Island (they usually do not appear until closer to May) we returned to our hotel. With a small and very gung-ho group we were able to rise early and be at Everglades National Park before dawn, a three-hour drive. We walked the Anhinga Trail in the dark where we saw a huge concentration of hunting Alligators and called in a Barred Owl. At dawn we drove to Flamingo and found the male Shiny Cowbird reported there. After studying this bird for a short time, we stopped to see hundreds of Wood Storks and a few Roseate Spoonbills at their rookery, a 'Cape Sable' Seaside Sparrow, and a group of vultures dining on a large dead 'gator. Then we left the Everglades and began searching southwest Miami for its cast of exotics. In addition to Monk and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Hill and Common Mynas, and a Spot-breasted Oriole, we also managed to find one of the few remaining Smooth-billed Anis in south Florida before returning to the Miami Airport. It was a short, but very successful and eventful trip.
This year's Tortugas Shuttle was conducted 20-22 April, with just a small amount of birding the day before and after as we traveled between Key West and Miami. We were aboard the Yankee Freedom I with a large group from Wings led by Paul Lehman, Jeff Kingery, and Chris Wood, plus a group from Oregon led by Eric Horvath. There were about 45 birders on the 2 and 1/2-day trip. There were strong East winds every day that did not result in any type of migrant fallout, but still gave us good birding on a day-to-day basis. The pelagic birding on the outbound trip was excellent.
All of the BIRD TREKS participants gave me their favorite 10 species, listed in order. After a bit of mathematical gymnastics, the result is a Top 10 List for the entire tour. The following discussion is based upon this list, with a few extra comments at the end.
The favorite bird of our Tortugas adventure was the SOOTY TERN. This handsome pelagic species nests in large numbers on Bush Key and can be seen and heard constantly as they come and go from the island. Daily estimates ranged from 10,000-20,000 observed. Our skiff rides gave everyone close views.
Several of our participants were very anxious to see a PAINTED BUNTING. We were not in the right place at the right time for the first few observations, but then we found a very cooperative pair in a small tree near the rubble pile. We watched them for 10-15 minutes, often in the same field of view in the spotting scope. It was voted number 2, in a very close race with the Sooty Tern.
Next were the MASKED BOOBIES that roost and nest on Hospital Key. Wind and tide prevented too close an approach, but we managed excellent looks, especially as they soared over the sandy island.
On the final morning of the tour we stopped at Sugarloaf Key, one of the best places in North America to search for MANGROVE CUCKOO. The Wings group was already present and listening to a cuckoo call. Finally the bird moved into view and everyone had excellent prolonged looks at what can be a very difficult species. It was voted number 4.
BROWN BOOBY was the next favorite species. We saw several every day on our skiff rides to the Magnificent Frigatebird nesting colony on Long Key. On our return ride to Key West we had close looks at about 20 Brown Boobies on a navigational tower.
Nesting on Bush Key with the Sooty Terns are large numbers of BROWN NODDIES, number 6 on the favorite species list. We were constantly searching for the extremely rare Black Noddy that sometimes associates with its close relative, but we did not find one this year. Our daily estimate of Brown Noddies was from 1000-2000 individuals.
The other colonial nester on the Tortugas is MAGNIFICENT FRIGATEBIRD, number 7 on the favorites list. We saw every conceivable plumage, from adult male to downy chicks. We also saw them in action as they pursued other birds in an attempt to steal their prey. Royal Terns were a frequent object of their attention.
We saw what was probably the same CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW inside Fort Jefferson all three days that we were there. The first day it was on the ground under a sea grape bush, then it was perched on the branch of a tree. The scope views were incredible.
Another pelagic species was voted number 9, the ROSEATE TERN. We saw them daily and had especially good looks at one of the navigational towers on the trip to the Tortugas. Some of the birds had the pink blush on their breast for which the species is named.
Tied with Roseate Tern was the male SHINY COWBIRD in Key West that we found on the day we returned from the Tortugas. There are very few places in South Florida where this species can be found. The same backyard also produced a flock of 20-plus White-crowned Pigeons and several Common Ground-Doves.
Additional good birds on the Tortugas segment included a single Parasitic Jaeger, American Golden-Plover, American White Pelican, and Grasshopper Sparrow; a count of 75 Bridled Terns; and a Worm-eating Warbler. Our warbler total was 14 species, with several additional species found on the Keys. We finished the tour with a pair of Red-whiskered Bulbuls and a large number of Monk Parakeets across from the Baptist Hospital in Kendall.
Non-avian highlights on our boat trips included a 20-foot Basking Shark, a large Manta Ray, several Loggerhead Turtles, Bottle-nosed and Spotted Dolphins, and the always popular Flying Fish.