My first visit to the US of the year (hardly surprising given that it’s only the second week of 2008 and that I’d just been at home after a trip to Narita, Japan), which meant that almost everything I saw would be ‘new for the year’ - that almost magical state where an American Coot is transformed from “Hmm, another Coot” to “Hmm, let’s look at this lovely bird more closely and make sure I really know what an American Coot looks like” (a state which, if I’m being honest usually wears off quite quickly in the case of a mainly black waterbird that is found on every pond and lake in America). Anyhow, for this first trip I would have a morning in Miami, and - hopefully - by going to Key Biscayne I’d get good views of a few decent shorebirds, some herons, and the eye-wateringly beautiful Yellow-throated Warbler, that glowing star of the ‘Sunshine State’ that I can be sure I won’t see anywhere else this year as we don’t fly to any other area where they’re found.

Now, had I been fortunate enough to hook up with a local birder prepared to do the driving I would have loved to whizz down to the Everglades and back, but given that I needed to be at the hotel again by early afternoon, that the the Everglades are a few hours drive away, and that it wouldn’t be light until after 07:30 (which ruled out a really early start) I made the decision to get a cab out to nearby Key Biscayne instead. I have to admit that by 08:00 when I’d seen my main target bird (the warbler) and I’d realised that the birding was going to be - well, ’slow’ would sum it up nicely, I was wondering whether I’d made the right choice. But wondering if you should have risked the traffic and gone somewhere else instead is the most certain way of ensuring that you don’t give your proper attention to where you actually are, so after giving myself a proper ticking off I buckled down and settled on having a really good look round the gardens of Crandon Park/South Beach and the wilder area further down the Key at the Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, a short bus ride away (the second half of this report is at BBCFSP).

I’ve been to Crandon Park and Cape Florida a couple of times before (see Crandon Park, Nov 2004 for example), which meant that though the birding (and scenery) wouldn’t be as spectacular as the Everglades I would at least know what birds to expect and where the better areas to look for them would be. Arriving in a cab at first light (hence the title of this post, folks) I headed straight for what I hoped would be the usual collection of shorebirds and gulls on South Beach. I’ve never seen anything remotely rare here (unless you include the White-collared Swift I once saw while waiting back at the main road for the bus to downtown Miami), but it is a good spot to see Piping Plover, Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Brown Pelican, and Fish Crow as well as more widespread birds like Double-crested Cormorant and Sanderling (all year-birds of course).

As hoped there was indeed a small cluster of birds centered around a slightly higher area of sand that offered a roosting area away from the world’s most selfish and arrogant joggers (or so I thought: why is that every jogger in the area heads straight for any birds they can see and ploughs their way right through the middle of them? And why do they do it when they can quite plainly see a birder standing quietly watching them? Answers on a postcard please…).

Anyway, as expected, no sooner had I settled down to scan through the flock than some (presumably) wealthy retiree decided that the only place on the whole stretch of beach he wanted to see the dawn from was the very same spot where just seconds before a flock of birds had been minding their own business. I took the photo below as the birds scattered (though they did come back when the bronzed idiot with the brash ego had walked on). There are - as you could easily see if this image was about four times the size it is here - Grey/Black-bellied Plovers (note the black “underarms” formed by the dark axillaries), Piping and Semi-palmated Plovers, dowitchers, Sanderling, and a single Ruddy Turnstone (bottom left, just about to take off). I cropped the jogger out of the picture as he is a moron, and there are enough images of morons on the web already…

Piping Plover Charadrius melodus

Anyway, a little more careful scanning eventually revealed - ta-da - one single, solitary Dunlin. Not quite the rarity I would have liked, but what the hey: I’d had ranks of Brown Pelican flying over, and a couple of Fish Crow giving their single, high “caaa” calls to keep me alert, the sun was coming up, the weather was warm, and I still had Crandon Park to look at.

Before I wandered up the beach to the Park though I found this third-winter (judging by the dark markings on the bill) Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus amongst the scattering of Ring-billed and Laughing Gulls.

According to the excellent “Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America” (Malling Olsen and Larsson, ), LBBs arrived in North America in the 1930’s and reached Florida in the 1970’s. I usually do see a LBB here, and the race said to be found along the Atlantic coast is graellsii/intermedius: compared with the graellsii I see at home I’m always struck by the bulk and very dark plumage of the LBBs I see in Miami (which would mean they are indeed likely to carry intermedius genes). It would be very interesting indeed to learn of any studies done on these gulls, so if any readers know of any I’d be grateful for the details…

To quote from a previous post I wrote: “The Park was once home to the Crandon Park Zoo, which opened in 1947 as part of Dade County’s plans to turn the area into a major tourist destination. Fortunately the zoo is now long gone, and where it once stood is now a well-tended park, home to cages without bars and picnic tables, and an eclectic mix of exotic and native waterfowl.

    

…What sort of sadistic mind would think it a good idea to cram animals into small cages in a humid, tropical garden on the edge of the ocean - an environment, remember, that hordes of city-dwellers visit to “escape” - I’ll never understand, but fortunately the beast responsible is long gone, and the cages - though still standing- are thankfully empty…

A far more interesting mind has ensured though that the old fountained ponds run with clean water, what extant habitat there was left after the developers had had their fun is left pretty much alone, and the empty cages are painted with flower motifs and thrown wide open. This same mind has also built up an eclectic waterfowl collection that includes ducks from as far apart as Australia, Northern Europe, and Canada. Why is anyone’s guess, though with the fauna of Miami slowly being transformed by what seems to be a huge and ongoing pet-release scheme maybe this pleasantly eccentric (I imagine) individual is just doing what everyone else does here, and releasing free-flying Egyptian Geese onto a small key surrounded by beaches and palm trees is just “entering into the spirit of things”…maybe there’s a more serious point? Feel free to email and put me right….”

Ah, the time-saving joys of quoting your own work when you’re trying to finish a report and look after a two-year old at the same time!

The main draw at Crandon Park, as far as I’m concerned, are not the cranes, Cackling Geese, or Peacocks (tame birds in collections don’t count on any birder’s list - not even Graham’s): no, the one bird here that has my heart is the stunning Yellow-throated Warbler, a long-billed, dazzlingly white warbler offset with thick black streaks and a generous splash of a particularly luminous sunshine-yellow that evolution has painted with unrestrained verve down the bird’s throat. Strike me dead the day I yawn and say, “Oh, not another Yellow-throated Warbler…” because this is the sort of bird that even non-birders have to say nice things about…

Having said all that, unfortunately I only saw one this time round, and not giving the sorts of views I’d have liked. I did get a photo, but it’s the worst I’ve ever taken of the species, so instead of posting it I’m going to re-post a far better one that I took in Crandon park almost exactly a year ago (if you’d like to see a few more there’s a gallery right here).

Yellow-throated Warbler Dendroica dominica, Crandon Park, Feb 2007

More mundane and expected species here always include White Ibis, Turkey Vultures, and American Coots as well as small numbers of Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers (I also a single <>Back and White, another species that overwinters in Florida in good numbers). Crandon Park is also a reliable site for Red-bellied Woodpecker and a number of herons - particularly Tricoloured (which I rarely see anywhere else) and Green. It also has a reputation for being a reliable spot for two introduced species that are sometimes sought by listers - Eurasian Collared Dove - which I get on my roof at home - and Monk Parakeet - which I don’t (I saw both but had no chance to photo the parakeets as they were just fly-overs).

White Ibis Eudocimus albus

Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura (feeding on an Iguana carcass)

Green Heron Butorides virescens

Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto (lower left) and
two Mourning Doves Zenaida macroura

Two other species I was glad to see - and see well - were both raptors: an Osprey and an adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Both, as the photos below show, gave me prolonged and excellent views. I was particularly interested in seeing the Red-shouldered as it was one of the pale southern Florida forms which I rarely get to see properly.

Osprey Pandion haliaetus

Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus

I’d seen all of the above in about 90 minutes, which meant I still had plenty of time to catch a local bus the two miles or so to the Cape Florida State Park at the end of the key and get back to the hotel - which I’ll post about about as soon as I can…

Day List (including Cape Florida):
Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps 1; White Ibis Eudocimus albus c)30; Green Heron Butorides virescens 1; Great Blue Heron Ardea herodias 1; Tricolored Heron Egretta tricolor 1; Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea 1; Magnificent Frigatebird Fregata magnificens 6; Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis c)10; Double-crested Cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus 20+; Turkey Vulture Cathartes aura 10+; Osprey Pandion haliaetus 1; Red-shouldered Hawk Buteo lineatus 1; Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus 3; American Coot Fulica americana 1; Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola c)50; Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus c)20; Piping Plover Charadrius melodus 20+; Short-billed Dowitcher Limnodromus griseus c)20; Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 2; Sanderling Calidris alba 10+; Dunlin Calidris alpina 1; Ring-billed Gull Larus delawarensis 30+; Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus 1; Laughing Gull Larus atricilla 20+; Royal Tern Sterna maxima c)10; Eurasian Collared Dove Streptopelia decaocto 1; Mourning Dove Zenaida macroura c)10; Common Ground Dove Columbina passerina 3; Monk Parakeet Myiopsitta monachus 4; Red-bellied Woodpecker Melanerpes carolinus 2; Eastern Phoebe Sayornis phoebe 2; Blue-headed Vireo Vireo solitarius 1; Fish Crow Corvus ossifragus 3; Blue-grey Gnatcatcher Polioptila caerulea 3-4; Grey Catbird Dumetella carolinensis 2; Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris 4; Northern Parula Parula americana 1; Yellow-rumped Warbler Dendroica coronata 3-4; Yellow-throated Warbler Dendroica dominica 1; Prairie Warbler Dendroica discolor 1; Palm Warbler Dendroica palmarum 4-5; Black-and-white Warbler Mniotilta varia 1; Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas 1; Boat-tailed Grackle Quiscalus major 6; Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis 2

New for the Year: 39
Life Birds: 0
Total for the Year: 158