Lifers in the Keys

If you have been to the Florida Keys as a birdwatcher most likely you've gone for some sought after species that are hard to find anywhere else. Maybe you're lucky enough to head out to the Dry Tortugas but if you're confined to the roads then you're still in luck because the Keys always have something interesting, no matter what time of year it may be.

This past weekend my two friends, Andy and Kim, and I stayed in a condo on Islamorada. We didn't swim or even go out on a boat; instead we spent our waking hours searching for some life birds. Our first target was the reputedly elusive Mangrove Cuckoo (Coccyzus minor).

Once again the Long Pine Key State Park didn't let me down. I knew we had the whole weekend to find our targets but I really wanted my friends to get some of these birds early on. Fortunately, the cuckoo showed itself only a few minutes down the path and we all got great looks. It even gave a nice little call for identification. I've only seen the Mangrove Cuckoo once before so this was a treat to see it again. The mosquitoes were out full force but snagging this bird was worth it.


After the cuckoo we trekked down the path that winds out of the mangroves and into a salt pan like area where we found lots of Fiddler Crabs and the Wharf Crab seen in the above photo. Winding through this area was a nice respite from the mosquitoes and then back we went into the forested trail but we were happily greeted by a nice little mixed flock of warblers. The Yellow-throated Warblers (Dendroica dominica) were giving us killer looks while the Prairie Warblers (Dendroica discolor) were also showing themselves all around us. There's nothing better than having warblers at eye level only a few feet away, at least in my book.

The trail circled back towards the parking lot where we had probably the best look at a Black-whiskered Vireo (Vireo altiloquus) that a person can get. Two Black-whiskered Vireos chased each other only a few feet away. We weren't sure what exactly was going on but we thought maybe one was an adult and the other a younger vireo by their behavior. After a nice session with these guys we ended our trip at Long Pine Key and drove to the Marathon Government building. If you're in Marathon during the summer it's easy to find Roseate Terns (Sterna dougalli) mixed in with the Least Terns (Sterna antillarum) nesting on top of this building. We circled the building before finally spotted a couple of terns. The Roseate was easy to distinguish from the Least due to its larger size and all white body.

After all these life birds we were riding quite the high but unfortunately we experienced a little car trouble while leaving the government building area. How many birders does it take to fix a flat tire? I think it took all three of us to locate the jack in Andy's new car but then after a rough start we got it fixed and we were back on the road. Our next stop was Ohio Key.

The tide was high but we wandered down by the bridge area were this Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) was waiting on us. I walked out about 15 feet away from it before deciding that nothing was going to spook this guy and headed back to shore. There wasn't much going on in this area so we posed for a few photos before finding a few peeps hiding in the rocky areas.

The rocky shoreline proved to be very busy with shorebirds of all kinds. We picked up plovers, sandpipers, and dowitchers. My favorite birds of this area were the two Brown-head Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) that gave us a little tricky identification. It was raining and they were all puffed up which made it difficult to distinguish what exactly they were at first. We eventually nailed down the ID and moved on to the task of finding lunch. After our Mexican food we found the iguana seen below waiting for us by the car. These exotics are rampant throughout South Florida and especially easy to spot in the Keys.

The day was still early so we headed to Lake Edna for a little more birding after lunch. We found quite a few different species of swallow passing through plus a Roseate Spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), a few herons, and a vulture or two. Our day list was quite impressive so we headed back to the condo to escape the hot afternoon and wait for our nighthawk search.

We arrived at the Marathon Airport before 8:00PM and even before we could stop the car the "killy-kadick" could be heard over the Laughing Gulls and cars passing by. The Antillean Nighthawks (Chordeiles gundlachi) were all over the place, swooping through the sky and diving behind the parked airplanes. We moved down a little more to get a better view of the nighthawks and called it a night after we had our fill of looks. The night was capped off with some celebratory drinks, see photo below. I'm drinking a Candy Cane in celebration of my lifers: Roseate Tern, Cave Swallow (Petrochelidon fulva), and Antillean Nighthawk. Overall it was some of the easiest birding I've done in a while. I guess after a few hit and miss times at other species it was a relief to get everything I wanted and more. We ended the weekend with 61 species including some birds from the Miami-Kendall area like Mitred Parakeets (Aratinga mitrata) and Yellow-chevroned Parakeets (Brotogeris chiriri) which were new to my companions. The weekend was full of fun, friends, and some amazing birds. I can't wait till the next trip!