After crossing the state the night before on Alligator Alley, I got an early start at Markham Park in Fort Lauderdale hoping to beat the weekend crowds. The website said it opened at 8:00 but when I arrived at 7:30 hoping to sneak in there were crowds of people everywhere. I asked the gate attendant (they apparently were already open) what was going on. She said it was a boy scout jamboree. I paid and headed towards the nature trail, where several Spot-breasted Oriole had been reported regular over the last couple week. Spot-breasted Oriole is a non-native species that was introduced to South Florida from Central America by escaping from a zoological park.
The nature trail was at least in the opposite direction from the boy scout jamboree, but it was still bustling with activity from the nearby RV campground and dog park. As I got out of the car a group of mountain bikers went by and headed down the nature trail in front of me. This was going to improve my chances of finding this species that I had failed to see on numerous other occasions. However, after the mountain bikers cleared out I had the nature trail to myself. After slowly walking the trail for 10 or 20 minutes a Spot-breasted Oriole popped up on top of some shrubs not too far away. The light was no good for a photograph, though. I exited the trail and walked back along the road trying to get a look at the area with the sun at my back, but I never saw the bird or its companions again.
I did make it back to the hotel before the free breakfast bar closed and with time to try for a couple birds in Miami before meeting my friend Miguel in West Palm Beach for lunch. A Buff-bellied Hummingbird, a rare winter visitor to South Florida from Texas and Mexico, was being reported at a park southwest of Miami. On the way down, though, we had a stop to make at La Carreta Mexican restaurant in Miami. When we pulled in the busy parking lot my parents wanted to know what exactly we were looking for here, again? Bronzed Cowbird. A formerly rare visitor from Mexico and points west, it has been establishing a permanent presence in South Florida since about 1980. When I had found a parking space at the crowded restaurant and strip mall, I looked in my side-view mirror and saw a cowbird scavenging around and underneath a car behind us. Bronzed Cowbirds, Boat-tailed Grackles, and European Starlings were foraging everywhere, but the dumpster behind the restaurant seemed especially popular with the birds. Within about a minute of getting out of the car my mother asked if we could go get a cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts now. Why not.
The last stop of the morning was Castellow Hammock Park for the hummingbird. Hopefully, it would not be a long search as it was approaching lunchtime and we still had a bit of a drive to West Palm Beach. Well, it really could not have been any easier. We got out of the car in the parking lot and saw a woman sitting on a bench with binoculars in her hand. I walked over and asked her if she had seen any hummingbirds and she indicated that the Buff-bellied had been feeding in the flowering shrub just in front of us. Instantly it appeared and perched on a branch and preened for about three minutes. I got out the spotting scope and we all had nice looks at the bird. A couple other birders showed up and had the same experience. My father was not very impressed by the juvenile bird, and it has to be said that my interest was more in the rarity of its visit to South Florida than its subdued green and buff plumage. It was a spunky little bird, though, and personality surely counts for something. My father was already in the car ready to go as I was packing up the scope and tripod. We were running slightly late for lunch and had friends to meet. In less than 24 hours we had tracked down four birds I had never seen in Florida before: American Flamingo, Spot-breasted Oriole, Bronzed Cowbird, and Buff-bellied Hummingbird. The oriole I had never seen anywhere before, which made it a life bird. So who cares? Good question. But now it was time for lunch.
We ended the day at the Jupiter inlet, my childhood stomping grounds, with great weather and a view of the historic lighthouse as the sun was going down. Instead of risking another disappoint grouper sandwich at a waterside restaurant and lounge, we ate dinner at the old Catfish House in Hobe Sound. Now we were all happy.
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