This trip to the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas gave us an opportunity to finally see a Brown Noddy and hopefully more rare birds.

Mike headed down a couple of days early to camp out and stopped on Wednesday to bird the Miami area. The Biltmore Hotel is one of our reliable spots for parrots and there were a few Red-masked Parakeets late in the day. The next morning, a Red-whiskered Bulbill was found at Pine Woods Park and a Chestnut-fronted Macaw was observed at the Miller Drive Roost. Lastly, a Common Myna was seen near the Mobil station in Florida City. Mike was very lucky to get a campsite on the seawall at Boyd’s Campground on Stock Island. The sea breeze was great, woke up to a beautiful sunrise and watched the Navy fighter jets taking off and landing at the Naval Air Station across the bay.

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Sharon flew into Key West Friday morning and we went to Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park in search of the reported Black-faced Grassquit. Of course, other birders were also on the hunt but this wasn’t our day. The beautiful water around the fort and targets Magnificent Frigatebird, White-winged Dove, and Gray Kingbird made this a good stop. A late-in-the-year flyover of ten American White Pelicans was a nice sight.

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We had Lobster pizza for lunch near the Southernmost Point and saw a Spotted Sandpiper on the beach. Later in the afternoon we walked to the Key West Cemetary and added the target White-crowned Pigeon. This was one of our top missed birds during our 2015 Little Big Year. They are more common now and we saw at least six in various locations.

Dry Tortugas

We stayed at the Eden House and had a short walk to the ferry terminal for the boat ride to the Dry Tortugas National Park. Other birders were onboard and we saw Northern Gannet and many other species on the one-and-a-half-hour ride to the fort. This would turn out to be a trifecta life bird day for us! The captain took us by Hospital Key so we could all see the Masked Booby – life bird! Other great birds on the island were Brown Booby, Herring Gull, and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Mike sailed to the Dry Tortugas many years ago and remembers hearing the birds each morning. The birding on the island is amazing. We had great views of Brown and Black Noddy; two more life birds. The hundreds of Sooty Terns put on quite a show. Also saw Royal, Roseate and Least Terns. The water is very clear, perfect for snorkeling and you may even see a barracuda. There are a few trees in the middle of the fort and a water feature that brought in excellent birds. The best include Black-whiskered Vireo, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, and Prairie Warbler. The surprise bird of the day was a Bobolink which gave us brief but good looks. Raptors included Merlin and Red-shouldered Hawk.

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Key West

On Sunday we visited the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Gardens. The best birds were the Green Heron, Broad-winged Hawk, Black-and-White Warbler, and Orange-crowned Warbler. This is a lovely property with many trails and Green Iguanas. Our final stop of the trip was Boca Chica Beach which has a shorebird bonanza. Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Willet. Reddish Egret and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker are nice finds and birds we rarely see.

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For those who like saltwater fishing, there are many charter options available. We did the 1/2 day party boat and came home with a nice bag of Yellowtail Snapper filets and enjoyed close-up views of numerous Magnificent Frigatebirds. This was a great way to end our Keys Birding weekend. We had perfect weather the whole time (March and April are best), the sea birding can’t be beaten and there is much to see and do in Key West.

Trip Birds: 70 Year Birds: 24 Life Birds: 3

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