Who Needs Luck When You Have Persistence!?
Over the course of six days, I took seven (not at all stressful) drives to Miami to look for one…single…bird. Rumors have it that a yellow headed caracara (native to Central and South America) either blew off course into Miami or came over via boat. Nevertheless, there is one single yellow headed caracara in North America and it has been thriving in Miami for over a year.
I had gone out once alone and realized the area I needed to cover was larger than I thought, so I recruited my favorite birding buddies (my mom, stepdad, and husband) and we headed back to Oleta State Park. (At this point, I am going to remind you it took six days to find this bird.) We spent Saturday morning at Oleta and met birders from all over to see this bird. One of my most favorite things about birding is the sense of community that kicks in when there is a common goal. We all shared the information we had heard with each other and formulated plans from there. We stopped at Haulover Marina since it was also a known hotspot for this bird and at one point we were flagged down by a couple saying they just saw it fly over. So close!
Sunday was daylight savings time which made waking up before sunrise a little harder but we were fueled with the hopes of seeing this bird and off we went. We met back up with the birders we had met the day before, confident in our numbers that we would find it. We spent the morning at Haulover and the afternoon at Oleta. The stories shared of birding adventures and avian facts made time fly by as we all patiently waited for sunset and a glimmer of hope. One by one I watched the hope leave as individuals left and wished us luck. Soon we also had to call it quits. As much as there was disappointment, a spark of determination started to turn into a raging fire.
Monday morning I woke up early and was greeted with the familiar faces of John and Tami, two of the birders I had spent time with over the weekend. We spent the morning spread out searching and meeting back up to check in with each other. By noon I had to leave to make it to an appointment with the promise of meeting back up the next morning before sunrise. At 6:41pm I received a text from John, he found the yellow headed caracara at Oleta and was heading home to Detroit. (I am happy for him and only the right amount of jealous).
Tuesday Tami and I were back at it, we spent all morning at Haulover Marina and met up at Oleta for sunset, tracing John’s steps as we were buzzing with hope and excitement. We met a few more birders and met up with a young man in college named Nick who was spending his spring break looking for this caracara. At Oleta a local birder named Smith approached us and we started getting even more information from him. It felt like we were so close. As the sun set and the park closed we all realized the park rangers had been a little too nice to us and we had better get out before they have to kick us out.
Wednesday morning, at an appointment, I got a text at 8:21am from Tami. She finally saw him at Haulover! As she said, it was bittersweet and I couldn’t agree more. I had spent the most time with her searching for this bird and being inspired by her that it would have been wonderful to see it with her. She headed back to Ocala with over 500 species on her life list and I went to Oleta to once again trace John’s steps. I met up with Nick and we were ready to spot this bird. All of a sudden a text came from Smith that the caracara just flew over the parking lot we were right by. My stomach and heart decided to switch places for a bit as we waited for more news. We could see Smith from across the beach as the two of us kept our lenses focused on him and our phones at full volume. *Bing* “He’s here.” We ran. As I turned the corner, Nick (who is much faster than I am) was snapping away and pointed. Shaking with adrenaline, I snapped a few pics and heard Smith’s voice say “Go in closer, get the shot!” That was all the encouragement I needed.
We were absolutely blessed with incredible lighting and 40 minutes of watching this bird before it took off for the night. At one point I set my camera down and just observed this elegant little monster. After about 39 hours of pacing, searching, wishing, and hoping I was staring at the single yellow headed caracara in North America. The stories, advice, and knowledge I have learned from fellow birders while looking for this bird will stay with me forever. But the most important lesson? Persistence is everything!
