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| Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) |
I'm interrupting
the current backlog/relay of honeymoon birding posts with some up-to-date news.
Currently on Summerland Key in Florida again with work I
arrived late last night during an impressive electrical storm. This morning there appeared to be quite a few migrant warblers around
(including Yellow, Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, Blackburnian and Prairie) and
a light stream of Cliff and Barn Swallows moving southwest. Magnificent
Frigatebird and Laughing Gull drifted over the field station with a Double-crested
Cormorant in the quay. A Gray Kingbird appeared to squaring up to a Red-bellied
Woodpecker on a nearby palm. After getting some food and supplies (and
necessary extras such as Monster No Carb and chilli hot sauce) we kayaked along
the mangroves on the south-west corner of Summerland Key checking all the roots
for the orange sea squirt Ecteinascidia turbinate
(food source for the flatworm). Several good birds were seen and quietly
paddling in a kayak seems to allow a close approach to many species. Two specialities
of the Keys were seen – Black-whiskered Vireo and White-crowned Pigeon – as well
as Osprey, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Green Heron, Belted Kingfisher, Spotted
Sandpiper, Royal Tern, and Cardinal.
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