Last weekend, I went on a birding trip to the Florida Keys and the Florida Everglades. My goal was to explore the area and discover new bird species. Spoiler alert: I did find new birds! This was the first multi-day birding trip I've taken.
I covered Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Collier county.
Lucky Hammock (Frog Pond WMA)
Not gonna lie, when I first pulled up to this birding "hotspot", I thought this place was some sort of joke. It was just a barren stretch of road with power poles.
I was really surprised when I heard a lot of bird songs. There were a lot of birds, other wildlife, and at least 2 other birders.
Here are the new species I've never seen in my life:
And here are some other birds that I have seen before.
This is now probably one of my favorite birding areas. According to eBird, people have found way more epic birds like the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Summer Tanagers. Bruh, why can't I find these birds?!! I'll be back here sometime.
Big Pine Key - The City
There were lots of wild chickens everywhere on this island. They were really cute.
I couldn't take pictures of all the chickens, but a lot of them had mixed coloration like the rooster here on the left. There are crazy mutts.
Key West
There are chickens on Key West as well! The chickens here are scavengers and eat anything. I fed an enthusiastic hen a peanut right outside Five Guys. The chickens here are quite alert and hyperactive compared to farm-raised chickens.
I also saw a Eurasian Collared-dove here. I took a picture of it with my phone. If you zoom in, you can see that it's significantly more blurry than photos from my camera.
I then visited the Butterfly & Nature Conservatory. They had a lot of really cool exotic birds (and butterflies, I guess). Sadly, these birds don't "count" because they are not wild.
There were also mandarin ducks and
flamingos.
tame with about 30 people in the indoor
area walking along.
Long Beach Trail (Key Deer NWR)
Returning to Big Pine Key, I decided to check eBird for some nearby hotspots and gladly came across this location. The trail here was so unmaintained that it was impossible to complete it. That was fine though, as I got to add more species to my life list. A Palm Warbler hung out just a few feet away from me and was not scared of me at all. Later, a Key Deer decided to hang out a few feet away. Apparently, the wildlife here is not scared of humans. I'm not really sure why. The Blue-winged Teal and White-crowned Pigeon are both new species I've never seen before.
None of my photos are edited, so if they appear more grayscale and bland then what you're used to, that's normal! I understand that technically the camera itself "edits" the photos already, as it's really just picking up light levels on a sensor and converting that into an image file, but that's besides the point. My camera can't shoot in RAW sadly.
Florida Panther NWR
I made it back to the Florida mainland. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring bug spray, so I got tens of mosquito bites and had to exit the park before I could really start birding. I found one new species, the ovenbird. I also got poison ivy rash from this hike. I'll come back here another time, better prepared.
(Ovenbird)
1 blue jay and some unidentifiable ducks
More birds
On the drive home from Miami, I saw some more birds. At a rest stop, I counted around 65 vultures.
Overall, this trip was completely worth it. It was over the span of 2 days and I probably spent $150 max for everything (gas, parking, food, and butterfly garden entry).
New birds:
- Loggerhead Shrike
- Common Yellowthroat
- Blue Grosbeak
- Eurasian Collared-dove (seen but I didn't report it earlier)
- White-crowned Pigeon
- Palm Warbler
- Ovenbird
I hope to return to the Everglades soon! Maybe next month.
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