Exploring the Florida Keys

The first stop on my whirlwind Keys expeditition was at Long Key State Park. I really wanted to stop at some other state park but I had an early start to the day 5AM and none of the state parks or county parks open until after 8AM. So at exactly 8AM I pulled into the park and no sooner than my door was open I heard my first Black-whiskered Vireo of the day singing right above my car. After a killer look at this life bird I decided to take the trail and find some other treasures.

The beginning of the trail winds through a nice Hardwood Hammock with Gumbo Limbo trees like the one seen above. It was here that I found the elusive Mangrove Cuckoo, near the back of the hammock in some Mangrove trees. I only had a short glance but I could see the tell-tale mask around the eye region. It didn't call and it quickly found some hiding place in the vegetation. After no luck in re-locating the bird I tramped on down the trail feeling pretty darn good. Both the target birds I wanted on this trip were accomplished in less than half an hour at the park.

The trail opened up to a Mangrove habitat that at first glance seemed almost like a salt pan in Georgia, very flat and sandy without much vegetation. It was here that I did my first wading of the day. Along with the flooded trail I also had the pleasure of hearing lots of Prairie Warblers giving their zee, zee, zee, zee call. I just love how this call rises higher and higher.

Through the Mangrove area I saw lots of Black-throated Blues, American Redstarts, and Ovenbirds. The trees were fairly active and so were the mosquitoes at first, until the sun came up and burned them down into the shadows. The trail was shaded at times and there was always a slight breeze that helped with the sand gnats. The loop trail ended at this boardwalk (seen below).

The boardwalk is a fairly straight path over a nice Mangrove swamp. There is also a short tower over the Mangrove canopy that supposedly is great during hawk migration. I know where I'll be this fall when they come by the hundreds over this park.

The next stop after Long Key was Big Pine Key to visit the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge. The headquarters to the park is located in a shopping center and is closed on the weekends so I headed down the road to hike some trails. I stopped at Blue Hole where I didn't see much of anything except one Green Heron and an Alligator. Less than a mile further down the road two very nice trails were waiting on me. I decided to hike both of them before the afternoon heat rolled in.

Both trails wind through Rocky Flatwoods. This was a new environment for me and it really was quite interesting. Not only was the ground littered with oolite rocks but somehow all types of flowers and wildlife abounded. I really liked the sinkholes found on the wheelchair accessible trail. Also the information boards on that trail were phenomenal. Instead of giving just general species information it actually gave you the history of the area, the geology of the sinkholes and fresh water supply on the Keys, and some of the lesser known species of the area.

I didn't see any endangered Key Deer but I had a wonderful time hiking the trails and seeing some of the smaller wildlife up-close. The trail was littered with butterflies and moths. I tried my best to capture them with a photo but only the one seen above actually stayed still long enough to snap a few pictures. The flowers, like these gems above, were much easier to shoot. All in all, it was a great day of hiking and after a nice lunch I headed back to Bahia Honda State Park for more hiking, more birding, and more exploring...but that will have to wait until another day.