Birding at Fairchild Garden

Yesterday I joined a group of birders for an early morning tour of the garden.  This was my first time birding and I must say, it was fun, relaxing, and fill with great camaraderie.  The expert birders in the group were happy to share their knowledge with novices like me, and after a while it felt like we were hanging out with old friends.

Fairchild will be holding these tours every Saturday morning for the next two months.  March and April is the time when migrating birds visit the park for a brief pit stop on their journey north.

 I took my camera with my telephoto lens but the birds were too fast for my inexperience eye.  I was able to identified, Yellow-throated Warbler, Gray Catbird, Northern Cardinal, Red-bellied woodpecker, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, (My favorite) Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Monk Parakeet, Mourning Dove, White Ibis, Green Heron, Tricolored Heron and Egyptian geese.

 Egyptian geese are native to Africa south of the Sahara in the Nile Valley.  They were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, and appeared in much of their artwork.  These geese are not native to North America, but are becoming popular in park ponds, golf courses in Texas and Southern Florida.  Must were imported as decorative birds. Those that have escaped private ponds or aviaries have established hardy feral populations that seem to be growing in numbers. This family has taken residence at Fairchild Garden.

The Africa Redhead Agama, is not welcome anywhere in South Florida, this cute little guy I am told preys on smaller Florida native lizards.  

 When are we going to have a law in this country that stops the importation of exotic animals?

Saturday was my lucky day, the Bromeliad society of South Florida was having a sale at the park, and look what I came home with.      

Birding was fun, and I’m definite coming back.