Photos and Bird List for Florida Keys Birding & Wildlife Festival

Below is a list of the birds I saw at the Festival.  A total of 68 species, 5 lifers in yellow.  Enjoy the photos as well.

http://picasaweb.google.com/105545505585073725598/FloridaKeys2010?feat=directlink

1	Anhinga
2	Bananaquit
3	Blackbird	Red-winged
4	Bobolink
5	Booby	Brown
6	Cardinal	Northern
7	Cormorant	Double-crested
8	Crow	Fish
9	Dove	Collared	Eurasian
10	Dove	Rock
11	Dove	Ground	Common
12	Dove	Mourning
13	Dowitcher	Short-billed
14	Egret	Reddish
15	Egret	Cattle
16	Egret	Great
17	Falcon	Peregrine
18	Frigatebird	Magnificent
19	Gnatcatcher	Blue-gray
20	Grackle	Boat-tailed
21	Gull	Laughing
22	Gull	Herring
23	Harrier	Northern
24	Hawk	Cooper's
25	Hawk	Red-shouldered
26	Heron	Blue	Great
27	Heron	Tricolored
28	Ibis	White
29	Kestrel	American
30	Kingfisher	Belted
31	Merlin
32	Mockingbird	Northern
33	Night-heron	Yellow-crowned
34	Noddy	Brown
35	Oriole	Baltimore
36	Osprey
37	Ovenbird
38	Parula	Northern
39	Pelican	Brown
40	Pigeon	White-crowned
41	Plover	Black-bellied
42	Plover	Wilson's
43	Plover	Semipalmated
44	Redstart	American
45	Sanderling
46	Sandpiper	Western
47	Sandpiper	Least
48	Starling	European
49	Swallow	Barn
50	Teal	Blue-winged
51	Tern	Royal
52	Tern	Least
53	Tern	Sandwich
54	Turnstone	Ruddy
55	Vulture	Turkey
56	Vulture	Black
57	Warbler	Palm
58	Warbler	Prairie
59	Warbler	Cape May
60	Warbler	Blue	Black-throated
61	Warbler	Magnolia
62	Warbler	Blackburnian
63	Waterthrush	Northern
64	Whimbrel
65	Willet
66	Woodpecker	Red-bellied
67	Wood-Pewee	Eastern
68	Yellowthroat	Common

 Happy Birding!!

Dry Tortugas National Park

Today we did some Pelagic (open sea) birding on our way to the Dry Tortugas NP, it is approximately 68 miles from Key West by boat and takes about 3 hours. The name “Las Tortugas” came from the Explorer Ponce de Leon in 1513. In Spanish it means “the turtles” which impressed him so much in abundance and variety. The word ‘Dry’ was added later to warn visitors that fresh water was scarce. We saw many Magnificent Frigate birds, Laughing Gulls and Brown Pelican with a beautiful view of a Brown Noddy in flight just before we docked.

Fort Jefferson is located on Garden Key and is a magnificent piece of history. It was built to protect the ports of the Gulf of Mexico region but had to be abandoned due to the lack of fresh drinking water.

It was a perfect day for birding with a nice sea breeze and slightly overcast. Sources of fresh water, such as the fountain inside the fort, were great for seeing small birds that were drinking there. It was also a good spot to see a Merlin and Northern Harrier who were feeding on those small birds…the circle of life.

Here are the highlights for the day: Peregrine Falcon, Sandwich Tern, Brown Booby, Northern Parula, Ovenbird and Whimbrel.

After getting a great look at the fort and the birds on the island I went into the water. The sea is aqua blue and reefs abound with fish and coral just off the beaches. If you make it down this way I highly recommend spending a day at this magnificent place.

I will be putting a complete list of the Florida Keys Birding and Wildlife Festival sightings here, when compiled, so check back!

Happy Adventures! Dee