So I turned to the pros, TAS birding guides Paul,"Cuban" Bithorn and Brian Rapoza. Together, in a convoy of two vans they chauffeured 18 of us around several Miami neighborhoods in search of introduced birds of Miami-Dade. We started with Mitered and Red-masked Parakeets, then added my first lifer of the day, a non ABA Chestnut-fronted Macaw.
After seeing an Orange-winged Parrot, non ABA lifer number two for the day was a Yellow-chevroned Parakeet at Matheson Hammock Dog Park. I had been to the other side of the park and didn't even realise there was another place to bird here. I learnt a lot on this trip, including where to return next year and search for a Nutmeg Mannikin, one of the few missed birds today.
Now it was time to search out the Red-whiskered Bulbul. This involved driving endlessly around and around the Kendall/Kendallwood neighbourhood across from Baptist Hospital. We drove, got out of the vans, once mistook one of many Loggerhead Shrikes for a Bulbul. At one point, we did see two of them take off from a wire, but only a few of us saw them. After a few more trips around the block, we gave up and went to Shorty's for a great BBQ lunch, including a very nice piece of Key Lime Pie.
After lunch, back we drove to the neighbourhood of Bulbuls in search of this mysterious bird. Again we drove around and around, until Brian heard a Spot-breasted Oriole calling. We did not find the Oriole, but while looking for it, the birder who had mistakenly pointed out the Shrike as a Bulbul, redeemed herself by finding two Red-whiskered Bulbuls on a wire behind a house. A lifer for many on the trip and 609 for my ABA List.
Our next few stops were for Egyptian Geese, then to the Dolphin Mall for Purple Swampens,(which we easily found many of), and AD Barnes Park for the Spot-breasted Oriole,(which we didn't get). However, I did add a couple of new birds for the year list, Summer Tanager, and Yellow-throated Warbler, which was also a new bird for the Florida Life List.
We continued on to find White-winged Parakeets along Le Jeune Rd behind and across the street from a used car dealership. It was fun being amongst a group of people awkwardly walking the city streets looking for birds while drivers passing by hooted at us for no particular reason, from their cars. We did see a pair of White-winged Parakeets,(610), quite close and then rushed off to find a few more birds and maybe a Spot-breasted Oriole before dark.
At one point we were driving down some back allies and I remarked that only two types of people drive down back allies, looking into people's back yards with cameras and binoculars. We did not see any orioles, so we headed out for a last few parakeets. Before dark we found Monk, Green, Scarlet-fronted, and Crimson-fronted Parakeets. The later three were new for my Florida Life List, and I could add the last two to my non ABA World Life list. All in all, a pretty good day of birding, especially when you add birds to the Life List.
Chestnut-fronted Macaw:
Dark-Morph Short-tailed Hawk:
Yellow-chevroned Parakeets:
Short-tailed Hawk:
The Red-whiskered Bulbuls:
Summer Tanager:
Purple Swamphen:
White-winged Parakeet:
Egyptian Geese:
After lunch, back we drove to the neighbourhood of Bulbuls in search of this mysterious bird. Again we drove around and around, until Brian heard a Spot-breasted Oriole calling. We did not find the Oriole, but while looking for it, the birder who had mistakenly pointed out the Shrike as a Bulbul, redeemed herself by finding two Red-whiskered Bulbuls on a wire behind a house. A lifer for many on the trip and 609 for my ABA List.
Our next few stops were for Egyptian Geese, then to the Dolphin Mall for Purple Swampens,(which we easily found many of), and AD Barnes Park for the Spot-breasted Oriole,(which we didn't get). However, I did add a couple of new birds for the year list, Summer Tanager, and Yellow-throated Warbler, which was also a new bird for the Florida Life List.
We continued on to find White-winged Parakeets along Le Jeune Rd behind and across the street from a used car dealership. It was fun being amongst a group of people awkwardly walking the city streets looking for birds while drivers passing by hooted at us for no particular reason, from their cars. We did see a pair of White-winged Parakeets,(610), quite close and then rushed off to find a few more birds and maybe a Spot-breasted Oriole before dark.
At one point we were driving down some back allies and I remarked that only two types of people drive down back allies, looking into people's back yards with cameras and binoculars. We did not see any orioles, so we headed out for a last few parakeets. Before dark we found Monk, Green, Scarlet-fronted, and Crimson-fronted Parakeets. The later three were new for my Florida Life List, and I could add the last two to my non ABA World Life list. All in all, a pretty good day of birding, especially when you add birds to the Life List.
Chestnut-fronted Macaw:
Dark-Morph Short-tailed Hawk:
Yellow-chevroned Parakeets:
Short-tailed Hawk:
The Red-whiskered Bulbuls:
Summer Tanager:
Purple Swamphen:
White-winged Parakeet:
Egyptian Geese:
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