Hi -
The effect Bill Tice just mentioned was originally coined as "The Patagonia
Picnic Table Effect" because the actual site was a roadside rest area with
picnic tables 3 miles southwest of the village of Patagonia. It was coined by
my good friend, the late P. William Smith. He was the first US birder to
recognize that the pale gray doves showing up in Homestead FL in the early 80s
were Eurasian Collared Doves rather than "Ringed Turtle-Doves" and discovered
that they had been introduced accidentally on New Providence, Bahamas, and
spread to south Florida - and kept spreading -on their own. I moved to the
Florida keys shortly after, and several of us started calling them "P. William
Pigeons."
The original string of sightings at the Patagonia Picnic Table included a
Yellow Grosbeak (maybe ABA area's first?) but I do not recall if it was the
first rarity in the series, or a bird found by searchers for an earlier rarity.
I have visited the Patagonia Rest Stop several times, and have seen several
life birds there (Thick-billed Kingbird, Gray Hawk, Broad-billed Hummingbird,
Rufous-winged Sparrow...) but no recognized super-vagrants. On my second
visit, the most interesting bird was a Lilac-crowned Amazon, which is native
less than three hundred miles to the southeast, but everyone I spoke to was in
agreement that it was an escapee, as they are popular in captivity.
Wayne
