Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Field Trip

Saturday, November 16, 2024 • Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden • Report Kirsten Hines, Photos by Ana Lima and Kirsten Hines

Gray catbirds mewed from nearby bushes and a flock of Orange-winged Amazon parrots squawked across the sky even before our group of 25 women fully entered Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for our morning of birding on November 16. Coordinated by Phoebe Stacey Kaufman who volunteers at Fairchild, the field trip offered our group an opportunity to observe, count, and record as many birds on the property as we could to contribute to the Garden’s bird conservation program – and of course, to have some fun!

With blue skies and high spirits in our favor, we began our journey at the butterfly garden where a young Broad-winged Hawk sat patiently in a live oak above. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds flitted between firebush shrubs within the nectar-heavy plantings and a group of Painted Buntings darted to and from seed feeders nestled in the middle.

As we moved through a more forested area of the Garden, our attention was drawn to a Black-and-white Warbler, Northern Parula, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and a Blue-headed Vireo. Our first views of the open, ponded-lowlands included sightings of a White-crowned Pigeon in the trees above and a Tricolored Heron prancing along the shore. A Great Egret, Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, White Ibis, and an Anhinga with characteristically outstretched wings also speckled shorelines.

The Caribbean planting area yielded species shared with that region – light and dark morph Short-tailed Hawks kettling with vultures above and dainty black, blue, and red Atala Butterflies paused on mangrove leaves.

We ventured along the lowland bird trail into the Lower Keys planting area for a wider variety of wintering warblers and songbirds in the native plants they love. We found a Northern Waterthrush among mangrove roots, but also found that the recent super moon had drowned the remainder of our trail in king tide. A charismatic Black-and-white Warbler and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher ensured we weren’t without songbirds, and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Downy Woodpecker provided further entertainment. As a bonus for retracing some of our steps, we saw a Red-breasted Merganser on a lake where previously there had been none.

We tallied our Fairchild experience as we settled into picnic-mode at nearby Matheson Hammock – 435 birds of 45 different species, a beautiful sunny day, a wet but luscious garden, and a wonderful group of women. It was all worth toasting!

Many thanks to Stacey Kaufman, William Navas Pirrongelli, Fairchild Volunteer Coordinator, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden for making this day possible.

Eastern phoebe