Nature Nerds

Palm warblers are everywhere in South Florida

 One of the amazing benefits of vacationing with grandparents is that you and your man can escape for an entire day to do whatever it is you love best.  For Andy and I, that means a rare uninterrupted day of birding and "nature nerding"... even better if that happens to be in the Everglades!  By now we have been there so many times that we know all of our favorite hotspots, and can plan out a day with some accuracy of time and effort.  We started this year with a stop in Key Largo at Dagny Johnson State Park, to look for a rare stray from the Bahamas that had been reported on the bird listservs recently.  It was no small feat to find this LaSagra's Flycatcher... he's small and mostly grey and very skittish and secretive, and it's a big park. But thanks to a tip from another birder we passed on the way, we were both eventually able to get great looks at this elusive life-bird.  Not enough of a look for good photographs though.

 Big gator (left) and an Anhinga (right)

Green Heron

 Andy was able to get lots of other really nice photographs of more cooperative birds, bugs, and fish though.  We didn't see any more lifers, but as usual we saw some birds that we never expected to see, which is always fun... like a Western Kingbird, four Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers, three Marbled Godwits, and a Vermillion Flycatcher.  We had lunch at the new little cafe they've put together in Flamingo- fried gator and a big (surprisingly crispy and fresh) salad each.  If they had sold beer with lunch, I think we could have called the day perfect!

Another Green Heron

White Ibis

Anole

Spider, not sure which type

Northern Parula

 Common Green Darner (left) and Needlefish (right)

Snowy Egret