This was supposed to be a three-day, Three-night boat trip to the Dry Tortugas islands. I arrived in Key West at about 3:00 p.m. and rented a car to get a few hours of birding in before boarding the boat at 7:00. I did pick up one of the south Florida specialties: a White-crowned Pigeon.
I also saw some interesting lizards near Fort Zachary Taylor.
At 6:00 I got a phone call saying the entire trip was cancelled due to bad weather. I decided to rent a car and drive to Homestead near the Everglades. I had 24 target birds that I hoped to see in that general area in May. I thought I could get a jump start on that.
My number-one target was the Smooth-billed Ani. There is only one currently being reported in Florida and it is being seen near the entrance to the Everglades. i made the mistake of sleeping in until 8:00 and then spent four hours searching for this bird without. success.
I had a close-up view of Black Vultures and Turkey Vultures working on a dead fish.
And Eastern Meadowlark serenaded me.
I spent the afternoon in the Everglades and managed to find this Barred Owl in Mahogany Hammock. Thanks to Bill Rapai for this tip.
I decided to get up a little earlier and try again for the ani. Once again I was unsuccessful. Six hours and seven miles of hiking and I was 0 for 2.
Alligator in the Everglades
White Ibis
Cattle Egret
Western Kingbird
One more day of getting up early finally paid off. I got a nice look at the ani - for about two minutes.
A tractor came by cutting the grass. it was followed by about 130 Cattle Egrets who were feasting on the insects that scattered.
Swallow-tailed Kite
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Although I added 12 birds to my list for the year, i only saw one of my 24 South-Florida targets.