Bird Sightings from Florida Keys Trip Dec/Jan 98/99

This is a record of species seen on the FL Keys trip of winter 1998/99, with the notable exception that "garbage birds" (Starlings, House Sparrows, American Robins, Mourning Doves) are often omitted since we were largely ignoring them. The main reserves hit were Merritt Island (Titusville, FL), Everglades (Anhinga, Pay-Hay-O-Kee, Mahogoany Hammock and Eco Pond), Ding Darling Refuge on Sanibel Island, Shark Alley (Everglades), Corkscrew Swamp and Loxahatchee. There are also entries for the Keys, the "road" (drive from New York City to/from the FL Keys). Anything seen in FL City is listed under into the Keys, and anything in the Naples area into the Ding Darling listing.

I took this trip with Allison, my girlfriend at the time, and the "Allison" and "Phil" columns reflect Life and USA species for us. The "????" in the Myna column indicates that I'm not sure if this bird is countable or not, although there was clearly a small escapee population in Florida City (look in the parking lot behind the Burger King - no I'm not kidding).

One of the things I'll never forget about the trip was finding my first "real" neo-tropical species soaring above the parking lot of the Key Largo K-mart. An immature Magnificeant Frigatebird. It's at this point I realised things may be a little different there.

We didn't get all our "target" birds (missing Ani, Northern Parula in particular) but we got a great deal. Here's the list:

Species	Allison	Phil	Merritt Is	Everglades	Ding Darling	Corkscrew Swamp	Shark Alley	Loxahatchee	FL Keys	On The Road
Pied-billed Grebe			x	x	x		x	x
Brown Pelican			x	x	x				x	x
American White Pelican	Life		x	x	x
Magnificent Frigatebird	Life	Life							x
Double-crested Cormorant			x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Anhinga	Life	Life	x	x	x	x	x	x
Great Blue Heron			x	x	x		x		x	x
Great Egret			x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Snowy Egret			x	x	x		x	x		x
Reddish Egret	Life	Life	x		x				x
Little Blue Heron	Life		x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Tricolored Heron			x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Cattle Egret	Life		x	x				x		x
Green Heron	Life		x	x
Black-crowned Night Heron									x
Yellow-crowned Night Heron	Life	Life			x
American Bittern	Life	Life					x
Wood Stork	Life	Life	x	x	x		x	x		x
Glossy Ibis	Life		x	x	x		x
White Ibis	Life	Life	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Roseate Spoonbill	Life	Life	x	Eco	x
Snow Goose			x							x
Mottled Duck	Life	Life	x					x
Pintail			x
Green-winged Teal			x
Blue-winged Teal			x		x
Shoveler			x
Scaup sp.			x		x
Ring-necked Duck								x
Red-breasted Merganser					x				x
Hooded Merganser			x
Turkey Vulture			x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Black Vulture	Life		x	x	x	x	x	x		x
Bald Eagle			x							x
Snail Kite	Life	Life					x
Red-tailed Hawk							x			x
Red-shouldered Hawk	Life	Life	x	Eco	x	x			x	x
Short-tailed Hawk	Life	Life						x	x
Sharp-shinned Hawk									x
Osprey			x	x	x		x	x	x	x
Northern Harrier								x
Peregrine Falcon				x						x
American Kestrel				x	x				x	x
Sandhill Crane	Life									x
Limpkin	Life	Life						x
Common Gallinule	Life	USA	x	x			x	x
Purple Gallinule	Life			x		x	x	x
American Coot			x	x	x			x
Killdeer	Life		x
Black-bellied Plover			x	x	x				x
Ruddy Turnstone	Life		x						x
Snipe	Life						x
Spotted Sandpiper					x
Greater Yellowlegs			x
Lesser Yellowlegs			x		x
Dowitcher sp.			x						x
Willet	Life		x		x
Sanderling	Life								x
Least Sandpiper	Life								x
Western Sandpiper	Life								x
American Avocet	Life		x
Great Black-backed Gull										x
Herring Gull										x
Ring-billed Gull			x	x	x				x	x
Laughing Gull				x	x				x	x
Bonaparte's Gull	Life		x
Royal Tern	Life	Life							x
Rock Dove									x
White-crowned Pigeon	Life	Life							x
Collared Dove	Life	USA							x
Common Ground Dove	Life	Life			x
Great Horned Owl	Life	Life						x
Barred Owl	Life	Life				x
Belted Kingfisher			x		x		x	x	x
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker								x
Pileated Woodpecker	Life	Life
Red-bellied Woodpecker				x		x	x	x	x
Eastern Phoebe				x	x	x	x	x
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	Life							x
Tree Swallow	Life		x	x	x	x		x	x	x
Cedar Waxwing							x	x		x
Loggerhead Shrike	Life								x
Solitary Vireo						x
White-eyed Vireo		Life				x
Black and White Warbler	Life					x
Yellow-rumped Warbler				x	x	x		x	x
Black-throated Green Warbler	Life			x			x
Black-throated Blue Warbler						x
Palm Warbler	Life		x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Common Yellowthroat	Life			x
American Redstart	Life								x
Common Myna	????	????							x
Blue Jay									x
American Crow				?			?
Fish Crow	Life			?	x		?
Carolina Wren	Life							x
Northern Mockingbird			x	x	x		x		x	x
Gray Catbird						x		x
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	Life			x		x	x	x
Tufted Titmouse						x
Eastern Meadowlark	Life	Life	x
Red-winged Blackbird	Life			x	x		x			x
Common Grackle					x					x
Boat-tailed Grackle	Life		x	x	x	x	x	x		x
Northern Cardinal								x
Totals	51	21	48	38	42	21	30	36	39	29