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Posted by Russ Namitz on 14:45:15 08/24/06
Hey all~
I don't suspect that many birders take an August trip to the Dry Tortugas, so I thought I'd give a mini-report. I took a ferry out, camped for 1 night and came back the next afternoon.
First, the famous birding fountain is broken and the water is turned off. It appears that a tree root cracked the foundation and it now leaks. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.
All the main breeders on the islands were still present in decent numbers. I counted 44 adult MASKED BOOBY with about 15 immatures on Hospital Key. There was also 1 BROWN BOOBY roosting on buoy #3.
According to a park ranger, ROSEATE TERNS nested on Bush Key this year for the first time in ?? years. Biologists put out decoys and played recordings to entice the birds to stay. However, they must have finished breeding and split because I did not see any RSTE on the islands or from the ferry either
way. Three BRIDLED TERNS were seen from the ferry, but no shearwaters or storm-petrels.
I saw a total of 40 species including the Bridled Terns. Migrant highlights are listed below...
1 BLUE-WINGED TEAL
1 BANK SWALLOW
1 CLIFF SWALLOW
1 RED-EYED VIREO
5 NORTHERN PARULA
3 YELLOW WARBLER
5 PRAIRIE WARBLER
1 BLACK-AND-WHITE WARBLER
2 AMERICAN REDSTART
2 PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
2 WORM-EATING WARBLER
3 OVENBIRD
1 KENTUCKY WARBLER
7 HOODED WARBLER
3 SHINY COWBIRD (resident?)
Most unusual bird, according to the checklist, was probably the Kentucky Warbler.
Good birding,
Russ Namitz
Coos Bay, OR
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