South Florida 2011-The rest of the story

Although the day my family picked to go to Key Biscayne was one of the most crowded (because of the Sony Ericsson Open), I still found some great birds. After we arrived at Bill Baggs State Park, I was really excited to see that, according to the map, there were several ponds along the main nature trail where I planned to bird--I hoped to find some more herons and egrets. As it turns out, these "ponds" were just swampy, kinda smelly depressions which did not hold waders of any sort. Still, though, I saw some awesome birds, including 4 species of warbler: Palm, Prairie, Northern Parula, and Common Yellowthroat. Evidently, migration is a bit slow right now in the Miami area, so I could not detect any passerine migrants, but I spotted a flock of 15 or so Brown Pelican soaring overhead, another year bird. I also had Gray Catbird, but otherwise, the trail was relatively quiet. What were more active were butterflies--several Zebra Longwing were around, as well as a number of other species which I didn't have the chance to ID. On the way out of the nature trail area, there was a great surprise--a Common Ground-Dove! They are actually quite common (as their name indicates), but it was nonetheless an exciting life bird for me. The last year bird of the day was a Great Egret that flew alongside the main road as we left Key Biscayne.

On Sunday, we made the short trip to Oleta River State Park. Notable observations here were 2 Magnificent Frigatebird gliding overhead, more Brown Pelican, and a Little Blue Heron. My final year bird of the trip was a Osprey flyin' around just outside the state park.
As for now, it's on with migration!
Good spring birding!