There Be Dragons in the Keys

Dragon, ready for its Jurassic Park close-up

Whizzing through the Keys

There be Dragons in the Florida Keys; all manner of beasties and birds. Today we headed south from Homestead, down Highway one, passing though each key. Larry gave us commentary as he drove and was sure to point out some of the sights. On Key Largo, we saw the little brown boat used in 1951's classic movie, The African Queen staring Humphrey Bogart and  Katherine Hepburn. I'm a classic from 1951 too, but unlike the Queen, I haven't sailed around the world twice.

The African Queen

Thar be deadly Poisonwood Tree

We arrived at Long Key, and as we entered Long Key State Park, a raccoon shot across the road, and before we knew it, Larry was leading us on a trail to look for a sparce exotic, the Key West Quail Dove. which either evaded us, or more likely had moved on to an area with better food. While we searched, Larry told us the names of many of the tall canopy of trees. They had interesting names, such as 'Gumbo Limbo' and 'Poisonwood' that has blistering sap. The spots on the tree on the left, are spots of oozing sap. Ewww...

There are thatched Seminole and Miccosukee structures all over Florida and they are made using Thatch Palm. The little palms are scattered all over on the Long Key trails.

Thatch Palm

Barbed Wire Cactus

A cactus that to my eye resembled the cacti of the Southwestern states, is an endangered cactus of the keys; Barbed Wire Cactus.









There were Sea Grape, a tree whose mildly grape flavored fruit is a favorite of many wild birds and mammals, including humans.

Sea Grapes shown are unripe - when ripe, are purple 

After searching one side of the park for the Key West Quail Dove, we went to the other side to search for Zenaida Dove. That was fun as we had to traverse a long wooden boardwalk over swamp.

Traipsing the Golden Orb Trail 

The Golden Orb Trail had its charms. There were little holes at the side of the white sandy trail, in which baseball sized Blue Crabs lurked.

Baseball sized Blue Crab in its burrow

Another crab I saw along the trail were little Mangrove Tree Crabs.

Only an inch worth of crab 

Walking the trail was fun, even though the spot shown below was flooded with ocean waters on the walk in, requiring taking off shoes to wade through. I did so, and was ticked off when my pedometer unfastened itself and PLUNK into the salty wet it sunk. It survived, & thank heavens, so did I.

Where the trail was under salt water on our way in,
high and dry on our way out

When we reached where the Zenaida Dove was last seen, we looked high and low but did not find the dove. Larry suspects the bird was off hiding on its nest.  I suspect it was off playing canasta with the Quail Doves.

We all headed further south, and on Key West. Larry took us to a shore where we enjoyed viewing the birds on the far off pier.

Three Roseate Terns, all in a row

The Roseates put on a show for one of their mates,  
as one sang capella, and a second danced a jig

a less musically talented Least Tern

And last and certainly not a Least, a Royal Tern

The terns were fun to watch, but then, so were the lizards at this particular spot. There was a huge Iguana around 2 feet long.

There was a Curly Tail Lizard, that was pretty dinky after seeing it's giant cousin nearby. Here are two views, which show the lasso-like tail on this tropical lizard.




















We did a little birding on a Key West golf course. There were numerous Black Bellied Plover on the greens, and we were delighted to see this bird, which unlike most of the other birds, was still decked out in its breeding plumage.

Beautiful Black-bellied Plover.

Me, a Bahama Mockingbird? I don't think so!

The next stop was Zachary Taylor State Park, which I vaguely remember from my 1998 trip. Larry wanted to check out the current report of a 'alleged' Bahama Mockingbird, which he correctly predicted was a cute little immature Northern Mocking bird.

There were lots of other birds around, and come to think on it, a fair number of beautiful Butterflies. Of course it was the largest, brightest ones that caught my eye. Shiny! Purdy!

Julia Heliconian Butterfly

We still had a fair amount of day ahead of us. We located the motel - the Sea Shell - and checked into our rooms. By that time, the skies had opened up, and as predicted earlier , the tropical rains came a pouring down. I don't think any of us cared much. Rain is just an opportunity to see where ever you are at, in another light. And anyway, with 3 of the four of us having come from California, pouring down rain was kind of a treat. So through the rain we all headed out for a nice dinner in a part of Key West that reminded me of New Orleans. A Great dinner was enjoyed, and there is eagerness for our trip tomorrow, when we head for the Dry Tortugas.

The outside of the restaurant which had atmosphere to spare

Two Birds, No Stone

Long-horned beetle exploring a Florida cactus flower

Black Vulture in left, Short-tailed Hawk on right.

Today began with careful scanning of the skies near the western shores of Lake Weohyakapka, looking for Florida specialty species - the Short-tailed Hawk.  Was surprised to learn from Larry, the raptor's normal prey are birds. Can't fault that diet, as must admit, am fond of eating birds too.

The inset of the Short-tailed Hawk 

There were plenty of birds near the lake - the usual water birds; cormorants, herons and the like, as well as feathered landlubbers such as Great-crested Flycatchers andVultures. The vultures, Larry told us, were the key to our quest. Short-tails like to soar with vultures. as their prey ignore carrion eating vultures, so do not notice the hawk overhead. Driving on there was no  success, causing us to face the horrid thought, perhaps today wasn't our day. Then... huzzah! Larry spotted a dark phase, Short-tail Hawk over a forested area. I was on the bird in a flash, shooting off 25 or 30 shots. Then I looked down at my camera to check my shots, and then rat! I'd shot a string of black photos. *(@)#!  the camera's control dial had been accidentally be set to 'Eff Claire'. Note to self: Check camera's settings at the start of every day, EVERY TIME!

By now, the Short-tail was farther off, but a string of photos managed. The pix are out of focus, but that's because that beauty was so far off. The photo shown is an inset from the upper photo. I must say, a fuzzy pic makes for a happier 'moi' than no photos at all. It took me um... 18 years, but as of today, the Short-tailed Hawk perches proudly on my life list. Go me!

Our next bird was also a 'speciality' meaning birders 'flock' to Florida just to see the species. We now looked for the Florida Scrub Jay. To start, Larry took us to where the species had been easily seen in the past. Arriving at the local State Park, the friendly woman park ranger looked suitably grieved to inform us the birds were for no known reason - absent. However, she was quick to give us a map and directions to a location where the birds have been seen recently. Soon Larry was driving the van in an ever-decreasing Fibonacci swirl. Eventually we arrived at - inhale deeply prior to saying this out loud - Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek State Park - Whew!

The park was strange, as the ground beneath our feet was sand.

Sandy parking lot at Allen Dav... er... Catfish Creek Park

Soon we were treading a park trail, which was akin to walking on a sandy beach. Between the warm air and the difficult to walk on sand, I fretted a bit, a total waste of energy, I can tell you. With everyone disappearing up the slope, I moved as fast as my tubby legs could manage.

Innocent sandy, shrubby habitat at the park

On the bright side, there were butterflies flitting about, and yellow bloomed prickly pear cactus to distract from the sandy walking. It wasn't long at all before we stopped and Larry focused his trained hearing for Jays. As earlier in the day, success didn't just pop out of the shrubbery - we had to skulk around, listening and watching. Then, Larry heard a tell tale raucous call off down the hill. He headed into the shrubbery and I headed right after him.

Prickly Pear Cactus were scattered in the brush

Hurrah! Two Florida Scrub Jays flew nearby, sitting tippy-top on trees. They called and seemed to be scouting the area out themselves.

Florida Jay calling 

A bit of a pose here...

Everyone managed pretty good views of these rare birds of Florida Scrub lands. The Jays are endangered because much of their preferred habitat - scrub - has been developed. You would think the birds not having beach front property would have spared the species, but you would be wrong.

The Jays weren't lifers for any of us, which didn't dim our pleasure at viewing the birds one danged bit. Myself, I was thrilled to finally get decent photos of them - the Jay species, not the motley group shown below.

Larry, Steve and Marian after successful Jay viewing