Sunset at Eco Pond, Everglades National Park On February 7, 2009 my Big Day birding partners, Kim and Andy, joined me for a 103 species tally from Miami to the Everglades. You can read about our adventures in two parts here and here. Highlights included White-tailed Kite, Tropical Kingbird, and Mangrove Cuckoo but the top birds of the day were my only two lifers a Bell's Vireo at the Annex and some Lesser Nighthawks at Eco Pond.
We started the day at Dump Marsh before sunrise. Our first bird of the day was a pre-dawn Barn Owl and Northern Cardinal. We dashed over to Cutler Wetlands to pick up a few birds and then back to Dump Marsh before heading to the Everglades. Before entering the park we stopped at Lucky Hammock and the Annex (both areas are widely known in the birding circles down here). We found our Bell's Vireo despite a stray dog trying to attack Andy at the Annex and then we entered the park where we would later camp. Our plan was to slowly make our way to Flamingo by nightfall.
By the time we were at Eco Pond at sunset we had already achieved our 100 bird mark. The icing on th cake was hearing and watching as Lesser Nighthawk swooped over the water. We tried to look for a Whipporwill to round out the day but this would be our last bird of a great day of birding and also a lifer for all of us. So my number 8 bird is tie between the Bell's Vireo and the Lesser Nighthawk of our Feb09 Big Day.
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