Week 7 (2/17/19) - 406! But wait... Is that a Cuckoo?

First of all – yes, this is officially late using my own time-keeping rules. I’m sorry. I would love to give a good excuse to get out of this, but I don’t have one. Last week was very tiring, but that’s not a very good excuse. Please forgive me.

Ok, now lets get back to the cliffhanger. Last time we spoke, I was talking about how horribly I dipped on looking for the now famous Dark-billed Cuckoo. So, 2:30am rolls around and the drive begins with hope. A lot of time spent on Sunday was talking to other birders and the wisdom was to arrive before the sun started hitting the leaves. The bird had been seen around the same time the previous couple of days - around 830 was the best time. 

The parking lot was full of cars and the mountain bike trail was loaded with birders hoping for a glimpse of the rogue cuckoo. 730 passed, people milled around looking in the spots it had been seen. Some random squawks indicated some other birds were around, but focus was understandably on the cuckoo.

800 rolled around, no sign of the bird.

830 rolled around, no sign of the bird.

900 rolled around no sign of the bird. 

930 rolled around, no sign of the bird. 

We gave up. 

The bird was never seen again after the sighting 15 minutes before we arrived on Sunday. 

This is birding, or more specifically this is the reality of twitching. I haven't done many twitches is any on this scale before. I have twitched before, but not like this - I haven't traveled that far for one bird. I have definitely dipped before though. I've driven 4 hours each way to go looking for birds on the NC Outer Banks and found only one of the six targets that day. 

After a lot of searching and comparing notes with other birders, we decided the smart choice was to throw in the towel and try and salvage what remained of the day. That started before even leaving the park, as I did track down number 406 - though admittedly not the bird I was looking for. 

There is a persistent conversation in the birding world about how exactly to handle all these parrots, parakeets and allies. Many of the birds aren't native to South Florida, and if I understand it correctly some of them escaped as a result of various hurricanes and others were just released. These birds are incredibly adaptable and have found success breeding and establishing a population. The question is whether the birds belong on official lists, since some may still be the original escaped population and various other concerns. I tend to fall on the side of wanting to include a bird if there is either a rogue bird (like the cuckoo) which just got lost or caught up with migrants or what have you or if there is a breeding population in the area.

Nanday Parakeet - one of several at the park but the only one I was able to snag a pic of sadly

After getting a consolation parakeet, we headed over to Wakodahatchee Wetlands and got a parking space relatively quickly. That may not sound like much to you - but there is limited parking and those spots fill up early. I get the impression it would be entirely possible to wait an hour for a spot.

Anywho, here's some of the best bits from one of the most awesome city parks I've ever been to.

Snoozing Black-bellied Whistling-ducks - the best ducks ever?

Ruddy great big Iguana of some sort - no idea if they're native or not

Extreme close-up of a Great Egret

Grey-headed Swamphen - not native either I don't think, but impressive nonetheless

American Bittern - still one of my favorite herons and possibly even favorite birds?

Great Blue Heron looking a little dapper

Glamorous Great Egret showing green lores and lots of frilly bits

The nesting colony at Wakodahatchee is vast and home to Wood Storks, Egrets, Herons, Cormorants and more

There were a couple of big attractions being seen at the wetlands to offer additional consolation for birders who missed the cuckoo. One which eluded us was a Golden-winged Warbler. Long time fans of Avian Adventures will know that we went looking for those in NC last year and missed out due to poor planning. This time we missed out, but not for lack of trying. We were in the right place at the right time, just didn't get lucky. The other highlight was far more obliging.

Neotropic Cormorant - not a lifer, but a good bird for Florida

Note the eye color and white around the mouth, good identifiers for Neotropic as opposed to Double-crested

So that was Monday. It may not have gone entirely as expected, but I added 10 new year birds including one lifer. That sounds like an entirely good day to me. To cap it off, I added a couple of new Duval County birds later in the week with a trip to Spanish Pond, a trail on the south bank of the river here in town.

Before that, here's a pic from a very welcome visitor to the office parking lot:

Cute and dapper Black-and-white Warbler

I was drawn to Spanish Pond after reports of Wood Ducks and an American Bittern. I have neither so far in Duval after 18 months here, so it was a perfect place to try out. Sadly I once again struck out, but had an enjoyable walk nonetheless and ran into some other local birders there who themselves are recent transplants, though they moved here from Colorado. 

So despite missing out on the Bittern and Wood Ducks, I got a few nice picks of some birds who didn't mind me taking a picture. 

Little Blue Heron chilling on a snag

Mrs Hooded Merganser - for full video see the YouTube channel

Red-shouldered Hawk looking menacing and entirely like I am nothing but a large meal

And that was the end of the week. Significant ups and downs but birds everywhere and that's always nice. Plus I really enjoying being down in South Florida - so much so I may have to do it again soon...

West Delray Regional Park list

Wakadahatchee Wetlands list

Spanish Pond Trail list