I checked in at the Best Western Tahitian Resort in Holiday for the night and, as is my custom, engaged the desk clerk in conversation about the object of my quest. She said that there were Budgies to be found in the rear of her home almost every morning and gave me directions. Those of you seeking Budgies in Florida would do well to try the residential area west of US-19 and south of Darlington Rd. (about 1.5 mi s of the junction of US-19 and FL-54). I saw my life birds there before 8:00 am Wed 1/7 and was on the way to the Northern Lapwing location before 8:30. Alas the Lapwing was not present that afternoon (Wednesday) and, although there were a great many species present, including Greater Yellow-legs, Loggerhead Shrike, Cattle Egret, Crested Caracara, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, and Palm Warbler, the missing lapwing was a disappointment. On to Naples to seek a Shiny Cowbird. By 4 in the afternoon of Wed 1/7 I arrived at the Briggs Nature Center, Shell Island Rd, 9 mi north of Marco Island off FL-951, and had the good fortune to meet Christine, one of the

naturalists there. She told me that the feeders were only filled once a day in the morning and by this time of day were empty so no birds were coming in. However, she also said that at least 25 Shiny Cowbirds had been counted on the CBC last month and that some of them roosted in a palmetto behind the nature center. We went into a private office and looked out to see four males and three females in the bush that screens the office from the board walk. When we stepped outside on the boardwalk, the birds were not visible until we sidled alongside the building for about 10 feet. Life bird number 2 for the trip! On to Kendall. That evening I checked into the Wellesley Motor Inn in Kendall, FL (just south of Miami)(by the way, if you do not require an on-site restaurant in accomodation, Wellesley is a very nice motel and quite reasonable for that part of Florida in season) and called Mort Cooper. He invited me to go out with him on Friday and look for the introduced species. I accepted and planned to go Everglades NP on Thursday.

Thursday morning I was up before dawn and at the trail head of Snake Bight Trail just after sunrise. Having been forewarned about the mosquitos, I donned a hat with mosquito netting to cover my head, face, and neck and gloves made with mosquito netting. Putting my Scope-Pak on my back and binoculars around my neck, I set off on the two mile hike to the boardwalk at the end of the trail. The mosquitos were severe and, in spite of the netting, ample repellant spray, and brisk walking I was seriously annoyed by the bugs. I was disappointed to see no pink birds through the binoculars, but cheered mightily when, scanning through the scope at 20x, I came across a pink blob about 500 yards out. Boosting the magnification to 40x I could see that the blob of pink was indeed 25 plus or minus Flamingos or Roseate Spoonbills, but beyond that, I was unsure. I tried 60x but there was too much wind for the scope to hold steady, so I was forced to stay at 40x. For the next hour and a half, I watched the pink blob work its way closer and closer.

Finally, one of the birds fluttered its wings as it moved to a slightly different location and I clearly saw its black primaries. Hooray! Greater Flamingo! Life bird number 3. Trekking back on Snake Bight Trail, at the halfway point, I came to something that had not been there on the way out - an alligator. It had come onto the trail and fallen asleep with its snout ending half-way across the trail and the tip of its tail still in the water, probably 6-8 feet long overall. There was no sense in trying to go off the trail into the water on the other side where there might be another alligator, and I wasn't enthusiastic about hiking back a mile to the boardwalk to wait for it to leave - not knowing how long it might remain. The mosquitos were too voracious to stand there and wait so I decided to try to wake the beast without annoying it. I tossed several small branches in its direction, trying not to hit it but get close enough to wake it so it would notice me and leave. No luck. This critter was completely zonked out. While looking for another small stick to toss in its direction, I discovered a large branch about the diameter of my leg and 4 feet long.

With my heart in my mouth, I used the branch as a cane between my leg and the alligator's mouth and passed cautiously by within a foot of it. It never so much as twitched. The remainder of the walk out was made in record time. I stopped at the visitor's center on the way out of the park and said to the naturalist on duty, "I want to tell you a story and then you can tell me how lucky I was and how stupid I was and what I should have done in this situation." After I related my tale to her, she told me that I was very lucky, but there was little else I could have done under the circumstances. She added that usually alligators are not aggressive and that if I had hit it with the stick (I can't imagine having the nerve to do that) it probably would have just slithered back into the water. On the other hand, one never knew....

That afternoon was spent looking for Common Myna, Canary-winged Parakeet, and Yellow-chevroned Parakeet. In the entrance grounds of the Baptist Hospital in Kendall I found Yellow-chevroned Parakeets in the trees around the lake. Life bird number 4! Mort picked me up at the hotel on Friday morning and

we began the search for Common Myna and Canary-winged Parakeets. We found some great birds, like Spot-breasted Oriole, Red-whiskered Bulbul, and Painted Bunting. We tried his feeders as well as Betty Furchgott's with no luck. In the afternoon we returned to Baptist Hospital and saw Canary-winged Parakeets flying overhead in the entrance grounds. Life bird number 5 for the trip! Thank you, Mort! I left Mort about 3 in the afternoon and headed back to the Northern Lapwing site at Lake Istokpaga. After spending the night in Okeechobee, I arrived at Mossy Cove at daybreak but the bird was not evident. I drove over to the Fort Pierce Food Lion store and the Stuart library in hopes of finding Common Myna but was not successful. Late that afternoon, I again visited Mossy Cove but without success. Late Saturday afternoon I headed home with five new birds for my list - Budgerigar, Shiny Cowbird, Greater Flamingo, Yellow-chevroned Parakeet, and Canary-winged Parakeet. Five birds in five days in Florida - yes!

The next trip will be in April-May to Big Bend for the last warbler (Colima), Arizona (Strickland's) Woodpecker, Varied Bunting, and Rufous-winged Sparrow) and California (Short-tailed Shearwater (?), Xantus's Murrelet, and Least Storm-petrel). I'll let you all know how it comes out.