Golden-winged weekend

The weekend started with a walk of the Green Cay boardwalk. Andy and I decided to keep a weekend list running. After a little over an hour we had 40 odd bird species for the day including a female Painted Bunting at the feeder and a Least Bittern that gave us great looks. In the parking lot on the way out a little feeding flock of Magnolia Warblers mixed in with Prairie and Northern Parulas was a perfect way to end the day.

Our intentions were to get up early and head down to Miami for some birding but we slept in and got a late start. At Andy's house in Hollywood we picked up a Chestnut-sided Warbler and a Common Yellow-throat in the oak tree. We decided to start our trip at Kendall Indian Hammocks Park. The clouds were rolling in but the birding was phenomenal. We wandered through a stand of oaks where Palm Warblers and Ovenbirds were all over the ground. And the trees were hopping. I quickly got my lifer Yellow-throated Vireo upon walking into the trees. Black-throated Blues and Black-and-Whites were the most prevalent but good numbers of American Redstart and Northern Parula were also seen with the squeaky Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Toward the back of the oak stand we came across a very distinct warbler with a black throat. I figured it was a Black-throated Green and pulled out my Sibley to let Andy compare the two since it would be a lifer for him but he was certain that it wasn't that bird. He followed the bird and IDed it as a Golden-winged Warbler. I was skeptical but certain that he knew what he saw. We unsuccessfully could not relocate the bird. That's when the bottom was let out and the rain began to pour.

After an hour of waiting out the rain with a group of Boy Scouts under a pavilion we decided to break for lunch. We hit up an Italian hole-in-the-wall where we woofed down a Broccoli pizza. Newly energized we went back to Kendall Indian Hammock for a second go. We started at the hammock this time for a chance to pick up some thrushes. We met Carlos on the trail and he joined us for the rest of our duration in Miami-Dade birding. We found our lifer Swainson's Thrush on the way out of the hammock and also picked up a female Scarlet Tanager for the weekend count.

We decided to go back for another shot at that Golden-winged Warbler. We walked straight back to the original tree and there it was. We watched it flit about the branches. A parula gave chase to it a few times. With a three way confirmation of the bird we decided to make some phone calls. Within the hour a half dozen birders were in sight searching out this beauty. At this point we left the area for them to relocate the bird and headed off to A.D. Barnes to finish off our big day.

At Barnes we picked up a few more lifers. Though not as showy as the Golden-winged, the Tennessee Warbler was very cooperative. We found an early FOTS Eastern Phoebe on the wires. And in the hammock more Swainson's Thrushes were seen. Unfortunately we couldn't turn any of them into Gray-cheeked Thrush but we can't see all the birds in one day. We have to leave something for tomorrow. At the end of the day we had 15 warblers, 3 Flycatchers, and 2 Vireos for the list. A trip to the Vino wine bar sealed the night as we celebrated the birds of the weekend.

On Sunday we hit up Tree Tops Park in Broward and saw many of the same birds but we did manage to add three more species for the weekend count. After about 8 hours of total birding for the weekend we ended with 76 species, 4 lifers for me and 5 lifers for Andy. The weekend was truly golden.

Photos all taken by Trey Mitchell at KIH on October 4, 2008.

Here's a list of our weekend birds (My 4 lifers are bolded and Andy's 5 are italicized.): Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Double-crested Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Least Bittern, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, Limpkin, Common Moorhen, Purple Gallinule, American Coot, Spotted Sandpiper, Eurasion-collared Dove, Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeon, Belted Kingfisher, Downy Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Loggerhead Shrike, Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Swainson's Thrush, Brown Thrasher, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, European Starling, American Redstart, Black-and-White Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Parula, Ovenbird, Palm Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Painted Bunting, Scarlet Tanager, Summer Tanager, House Sparrow, Boat-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, Muscovy, Monk Parakeet, Orange-winged Parrot