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Bridled Terns were in full courtship mode during our visit to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, and we got an eyeful of these very elegant tropical terns. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

This year marked the inaugural running of this tour highlighting a wide swath of Florida’s wonderful ecology and biodiversity. We were blessed with clear conditions under which to experience it all, and it truly didn’t disappoint. We saw plenty of specialty bird species found nowhere or virtually nowhere else in the US, such as Florida Scrub-Jay, Mangrove Cuckoo, Antillean Nighthawk, White-crowned Pigeon, Black-whiskered Vireo, Brown and Black noddies, Sooty and Bridled terns, and Masked Boobies, and we did it while experiencing a wide range of interesting habitats, and fascinating flora and non-avian fauna (such as the Florida Tree Snails, Gopher Tortoise, a Florida Softshell Turtle, and the pocket-sized Key Deer).

We met up in Miami for orientation and a wonderful dinner at a nearby Cuban restaurant, and then it was off to bed in preparation for our morning southbound departure. On our way south the next morning, we took our first shot at Mangrove Cuckoo, and though we heard it well, the appointed hour for us to lay eyes on this species was not yet upon us. Our eyes did, however, connect with a day roosting Eastern Screech-Owl peering out of its roost hole, a lovely punctuation to our first morning.

Our three nights based in the Keys were eventful, and we found ourselves filled to the gills with migrants and south Florida specialties by the end of our sojourn in the southernmost portion of our southernmost state. Seventeen species of warbler, seven species of tern (including five that are very range restricted within the US!), tanagers, buntings, thrushes, and Bobolink were all on the scene, but they didn’t overshadow the specialties: White-crowned Pigeons, Black-whiskered Vireos, Shiny Cowbirds, Antillean Nighthawks, and an innumerable quantity of Gray Kingbirds. Our day trip to Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas was an unquestionable highlight. The seabird spectacle was breathtaking, with thousands of Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies, hundreds of Magnificent Frigatebirds, dozens upon dozens of Masked Boobies on Hospital Key, several Bridled Terns (including some very frisky ones!), and a nice showing by a single Black Noddy. There were also plenty of migrant passerines to sort through inside the fort itself. A Hooded Warbler hopping around on the flagstones out in the open next to singles of Veery and Gray-cheeked Thrush while a Bobolink looked on from a nearby tree summed up the land birding very well: the numbers weren’t overwhelming, but the diversity was great! The boat ride out there also produced several Brown Boobies and a few warblers making a go of it as they migrated east towards Key West over the open water of the Straits of Florida.

Our 24 hours in the western part of the state were chock full of quality birds as well. Our arrival afternoon on the left coast was spent ogling some excellent Burrowing Owls at close range, including some unbearably adorable youngsters trying to figure out how to be real owls. The next morning we ventured into the southern piney-woods, an incomparable habitat due to its flora, fauna, and overall serene beauty. In addition to hearing the woods wake up with the songs and calls of Eastern Meadowlarks, Northern Bobwhites, Pine Warblers, Great Crested Flycatchers and Eastern Bluebirds, we tracked down a very cute squeaky-toy sounding family of Brown-headed Nuthatches, a male Bachman’s Sparrow singing on territory, and of course the headliners: a pair of endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers! We even had some time to ogle a few close Limpkin on the way out. From there, a short journey north netted us the also-endangered (and declining) Florida Scrub-Jay. Buoyed by our morning success we continued up the west coast, as far north as the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, where a visit to Sawgrass Lake Park allowed us to connect with a pair of Short-tailed Hawks! We then headed due east, to the interior of the state, and finished out our day’s birding at the Tohopekaliga Lakes, where Fulvous Whistling-Duck was on the menu as a pre-dinner appetizer.

The next day saw us dropping back down from the center of the state and heading back for South Florida, but not before getting a mind-blowingly intimate experience with a couple of Snail Kites and some more Limpkin at Joe Overstreet Landing. We also were treated to a nice view of Apple Snails and their bright pink egg masses that were clustered on some of the reeds in the lake. Other nice finds on the way south were the endangered Gopher Tortoise, Crested Caracara, and a massive Florida Softshell Turtle which we had to extract from the road! Despite all of these highlights, our birding wasn’t yet done for the day. Our arrival in the West Palm area put us in prime position for one of the big highlights of the week for many people: the Wakodahatchee Wetlands. Here we soaked up the phenomenal numbers, density, and diversity of breeding waterbirds, just about all of which were at point blank range. What an experience to round out our penultimate day of birding!

The final day was all about targets, beginning with the vagrant Bahama Mockingbird that had showed up at a small park nearby our hotel just a couple of days prior. After an hour or so of playing hard to get amid intermittent drizzles, it finally revealed itself in all of its streaky gray glory, wings out in display giving the whole group a phenomenally good and intimate view. Then we were off for south Miami once more, and this time the fates (and cooler, cloudier sky perhaps) were ready to reward us with one of prime targets: Mangrove Cuckoo. Within fifteen minutes of our arrival we had one alongside the road, and circling around us by hopping through the adjacent mangroves. We got some truly extraordinary views of this often hard-to-see skulker, and there was much rejoicing. Enlivened by our great morning we set our sights on nearby Quarry Lake, where an Arctic Tern had been found the day before, and we were fortunate in our timing, as we connected with it during perhaps the last bit of time that it was present on the lake, before it continued its journey north via the stratosphere.

From the laid back keys, to the fascinating urban birding, to the pristine wilderness of the piney-woods and chain of lakes, this week was chock full of fun for both Mitch and me, and it was in large part because you all were such a genial, considerate, and convivial group. Thanks for sharing this adventure with us, and we sincerely hope to travel with you all again sometime on this great big birdy globe.

Cheers!

-Doug

KEYS FOR THIS LIST
One of the following keys may be shown in brackets for individual species as appropriate: * = heard only, I = introduced, E = endemic, N = nesting, a = austral migrant, b = boreal migrant

The rarity prize of the tour was this surprise Bahama Mockingbird, which turned up at Lantana Nature Reserve just a few days before our arrival in the area. After a couple of hours at this natural oasis amid multi-million dollar beach mansions we finally were graced with its presence, including the display dance depicted here. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Northern Bobwhites were one of the dominant sounds of our sunrise in the pineywoods, and we were fortunate enough to even see one of these usually skulky quails out in the open. What a looker! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Fort Jefferson as seen from the approaching Yankee Freedom. The fort now serves as a safe haven for migrant birds rather than the military outpost and jail which was its original purpose. Photo by participant Bob Reed.

We got multiple opportunities to view Tricolored Herons at their nests, though these were the most awkward looking adolescent ones we ran into. Photo by guide Mitch Lysinger.

We got some stellar views of Snail Kites as they hunted and ate at Lake Kissimmee. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Purple Gallinules are a paint-by-number-ers dream. What a bird! Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Brown Noddy is one of the headliner species at the Dry Tortguas, where it shares an impressive colony with Sooty Terns. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Mangrove Cuckoo! After much searching, the climate and stars aligned for us to connect with this often-shy cuckoo. Not only did we connect with it, but we got absolutely brilliant views, which prompted much rejoicing! Photo by guide Mitch Lysinger.

We had a fortuitous encounter with this pair of Yellow-chevroned Parakeets perched above us in the parking lot on our very first evening together, and participant Mona Gardner was quick enough to snap this picture of them cuddling and allopreening! Photo by participant Mona Gardner.

There are few places in the east at which you can see this: a Cave Swallow carrying nesting material to a colony. Indeed, since these are almost assuredly Caribbean Cave Swallows, there are barely any places in the entire USA where you can see this. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

A family of adorable Brown-headed Nuthatches gave us a fantastic show of their squeaky toy-like antics on the west coast. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

Florida Scrub-Jay is one of the very few species that are endemic to a single state, and this is perhaps the most endangered of that lot, as their habitat is severely threatened by development, especially on the coasts. We were very fortunate to run into several confiding individuals in the Naples/Fort Myers region. Photo by guide Mitch Lysinger.

Florida Burrowing Owls are another species which, like Florida Scrub-Jay and Gopher Tortoise, are heavily threatened by development. Luckily the residents of Marco Island seem to have come to an understanding with the owls, and they can be found nesting in appropriate habitat amidst the luxury vacation homes, creating a really interesting juxtaposition that is going to have to become more widespread if some wild things are going to persist as the human population continues to increase. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

We encountered Swallow-tailed Kites several times during our travels, but watching this one interact with other members of the same species as well as Common Grackles at Sawgrass Lake was a real highlight for all. Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

This swallow at the Cave Swallow colony in Miami was an apparent hybrid Cliff Swallow x Cave Swallow, and is perhaps the only documented individual that has been attributed to this combo (though it is nearly impossible to confirm this conclusion without DNA evidence). Photo by guide Doug Gochfeld.

The adorable Key Deer were fairly common on Big Pine Key, though their population is yet another one that is imperiled, due to small range size, inbreeding, storms and more. Photo by guide Mitch Lysinger.

The group celebrating having just seen Black Noddy (and Bridled Tern, and hundreds of Brown Noddies and Magnificent Frigatebirds and thousands of Sooty Terns!) atop Fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortguas.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Totals for the tour: 157 bird taxa and 6 mammal taxa