February 2017 – Miami Parrots & Parakeets

We both had business on the east coast of Florida which presented a great opportunity to look for parrots and parakeets. Sharon was going to Ft. Lauderdale for the Graphics of the Americas show and a Printing Association of Florida board meeting. We’ve been watching reports of a Bananaquit that was first reported at Richardson Historic Park on December 31, 2016 and reported everyday through February 13, 2017. We left work at noon and arrived around 5:00 p.m. at the park where we met a nice lady birder from Maine that had been looking for the Bananaquit for the past 3 days without success. We birded the spot near building K and a few birds popped up when the sprinklers came on. No Bananaquit but we did have a female Blue-throated Warbler, male and female Painted Buntings and a flyover of Blue-crowned Parakeets. Once again our target bird decided to move on a few days before we got there. We had to leave in order the make the GOA Gala awards banquet where we sat with fellow printers from Mexico City.

Friday was all work and no play between the Graphics of the Americas and the Miami International Boat Shows. At the boat show docks Mike spotted a manatee that drew quite a crowd. Later on we saw the always reliable Monk Parakeets on Lincoln Road.

We got up early Saturday to look for parrots at an area known as Miller Roost near Brewer Park. We could hear squawks as soon as we arrived and found both Mitred Parakeet and Red-masked Parakeets in the kumquat trees across from the park. In comparison, the Mitred have a red forehead and speckling while the Red-masked has a full red hood and red on the bend of the wing.

Our friend Joe Welch who is relatively new to birding joined us and kudos to him for correctly identifying our first ever Orange-winged Parrot. Not an easy task with the brief look and photo in flight. We walked around the neighborhood and followed the sound of the Chestnut-fronted Macaw, but didn’t get to see them this year. Last year we found them nesting in a palm tree which is now occupied by European Starling. We also saw our first of year Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.

We still had over an hour before the boat show opened so we went to Bill Baggs State Park for the reported Kirtland’s Warbler. Excellent directions were posted on the internet and we found about thirty birders in the place where it was last observed. This was such a mega-rarity that we gave it about a 15% chance. We were not too disappointed not to see it because it breeds in Sharon’s home state of Michigan and that is where she would like to see it for the first time.

On Sunday morning we headed to the eBird hotspot Ocean Bank. This was another chase where you drive slowly through the neighborhood and listen for parrots, rarely quiet at dawn or dusk. There are plenty of fruit trees in the neighborhood behind the bank and this seemed to be the best place to look. We located many Yellow-chevroned Parakeets (another life bird) and even a mating pair. We came across a vacant wooded lot that was great for winter warblers and a power station that had quite a few nesting Monk Parakeets.

Before the boat show we stopped at the La Sorpresa Supermarket for an amazing cuban breakfast of homemade croissants and empanadas. Our final birding stop was Crandon Park near the boat show. This is a great location for exotics like Indian Peafowl and Egyptian Goose. Sandhill Cranes were a nice surprise. A quick walk on the beach netted the usual gulls and terns and a bonus Lesser Black-backed Gull.

 

We always look forward to opportunities where we combine work and birding. This trip was great for both.

Next up: Costa Rica

Trip Birds: 45   Life Birds: 2 (non-ABA countable)