A Very Good Florida Day

One of the many lessons of this Big Year is that you're not going to get each bird that very first time you try. It's going to require going back and making a second or a third try. That was the case today with the introduced Spot-breasted Oriole. We had gone to the recommended location (entrance to the University of Miami) and had no success. Today we returned to that site first thing in the morning which is always a good strategy. Unfortunately you can't be everywhere first thing in the morning. But today we parked in the metered parking area, put coins in the meter, and wandered around until we ran into a group of migrants that included Blackpoll and Cape May Warblers and a Scarlet Tanager. Shortly thereafter the Spot-breasted Oriole flew in and there was much joy. From there we went to Bill Baggs Park where we tallied eleven species of warbler including Worm-eating, a new bird for the year. We did make an effort to listen and watch for the La Sagra's Flycatcher, but nothing was heard or seen. We checked on the Red-footed Booby again, but he wasn't at home. For the afternoon we drove to the Everglades NP where we checked a couple of places for migrants. We also stopped at a pond or two to ogle the pretty water birds like Roseate Spoonbills. We walked the trail to Snake Bight but didn't find anything new on Florida Bay. On the way back we flushed a couple of White-crowned Pigeons that flew around and landed above us. Nice. At Flamingo we looked for and found a flock of cowbirds which contained a couple of Shiny Cowbirds (photo). From there we put the Prius on cruise control and went straight to Key Largo where we got a motel right on the beach where we were told in no uncertain terms that we would see the best sunset anywhere around. And we did. Had a nice seafood dinner, but I didn't have room for the key lime pie. Maybe tomorrow night. With all the birds today the list has climbed to 496.