FLORIDA: The Keys

As a complete contrast to the days that we have been having today was overcast with lower temperatures yet slightly more humid. By day’s end we had driven the “Overseas Highway” for 106 miles down the Keys and were hearing and watching an Antillean Nighthawk at dusk in Key West in a light drizzle.

We began in Key Largo at the Wild Bird Center where the small mangrove lined pool on the bay side was busy with a mixed group of waders (above) frantically feeding.

These included an adult and immature Roseate Spoonbill (above) as well as many White Ibis, Great and Snowy Egrets.

On Grassy Key the edge of a large coral limestone pit held Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlin, Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers, along with three Wilson’s Plovers amongst twenty well camouflaged Semipalmated Sandpipers. Both morphs of Reddish Egret (above) could be seen chasing each other around in courtship as well as dancing with their wings out as they fed.

Art spotted the last of our possible waders, a Wurdemann’s Heron (above), this being the intermediate morph of Great Blue Heron, or better yet, a hybrid of Great Blue and Great White – the white morph of Great Blue. Confusing? Not really!

The diminutive Key Deer (above) was found browsing amongst the roadside vegetation on No Name Key and we had a second one cross the road in front of us.

The afternoon was spent in Key West were we paid a visit to three sites. The Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens, Indigenous Park (above) and Fort Zachary Taylor State Park all with varying degrees of success.

Red-eyed and Black-whiskered Vireos were everywhere at Indigenous. A flock of a dozen Bobolinks moved about the tall weedy vegetation at Zachary while Swainson’s and Wood Thrushes (above) worked the planted berm besides the moat. A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was one of three seen between these locations. Eastern and Gray Kingbirds kept company as they made numerous sorties from the more open tree branches. There was a splattering of warblers including Worm-eating, Hooded and Yellow, while Baltimore Oriole, Blue Grosbeak, Summer Tanager and Ruby-throated Hummingbird were all new trip birds.

Key West is full of chickens – Red Junglefowls (above) – though more closely related to Red Junglefowl than Frank Perdue’s, there is a heated debated going on with what to do about this species!

There was a comical moment when a Green Heron was stalking the minnows that were being stirred up by turtles in the pond at Indigenous. As the heron stretched his neck forward in anticipation of making a strike, a turtle broke the surface (above) and stared at him, as if to say, “What do you think you are doing?”

Following Conch Fritters and Key Lime Pie for dinner (much to Bill’s delight) at the Hogfish Bar and Grill we met up with Nancy, John and Bob to get the Antillean Nighthawk before heading to board the “Tiburon” for our journey to the Dry Tortugas.