Posted by Brian Ahern on April 11, 2003 at 18:33:43:
RBA
* Florida
* Statewide
* Date April 11, 2003
* FLFL0304.11
-Birds mentioned:
++ELEGANT TERN**++
“CORY’S” Least Bittern (possible)
Short-tailed Hawk
American Golden-Plover
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Least Flycatcher
Swainson’s Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
White-crowned Sparrow
SHINY COWBIRD
**This is a review species in Florida. Any details of sightings should be sent to the FOS Records Committee at the address given at the end of this report
Hotline: FLORIDA RARE BIRD REPORT
to report e-mail: BrianAhern@aol.com
compiler: Brian Ahern
transcriber: Same
This is Brian Ahern reporting the Florida Rare Bird Alert for 04/11/03. This report is sponsored by FLORIDA NATURE TOURS, which offers tours to the Dry Tortugas, South Florida, private guiding and a special Pelagic Trip off of Ponce Inlet on May 17th. For information go to http://www.floridanaturetours.com or call 407-363-1360. Reports are followed by coordinates from the DeLorme Florida Atlas & Gazetteer and the page number of Bill Pranty's ABA guide "A Birder's Guide to Florida" when possible.
WAKULLA COUNTY
At St. Marks NWR an AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER was seen by the Tower Pond on Sunday 6th, also reported in the area was a GULL-BILLED TERN. A possible “CORY’S” LEAST BITTERN was reported at St. Marks. It was seen in the reeds at the point where the trail behind the restrooms meets the levee that parallels the Tower pond (back corner of Picnic Pond) (T. Curtis). DeLorme p. 50; Pranty p. 76
LAKE COUNTY
Two YELLOW-BREASTED CHATS were seen at Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area on Saturday 5th http://www.stetson.edu/%7Epmay/emeralda/emindex.htm (P. May). DeLorme p. 80
BREVARD COUNTY
A WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW was seen at Turkey Creek in Palm Bay on Wednesday 9th (S. & B. Hills). DeLorme p. 88/96; Pranty p. 181
PASCO COUNTY
A white phase male and dark phase female SHORT-TAILED HAWK are nesting in west Pasco. This will be the second time that this pair's nest has been found over the last 3 nesting seasons. Although the nest is not accessible to the public, (special insurance regulations required and also because of the state of security now imposed on the facility property), the pair can likely be seen hunting in the general area of east New Port Richey; I.E., Jack Mitchell Park on Little Rd, Rancho Del Rio Drive and Alico Pass Rd in the community of Hunter's Ridge and along Starkey Blvd and the entrance into the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness park. Any young birds from this nest will probably be radio tagged, just as the first Short-tailed Hawk fledged in Pasco from this area was (K. Tracey). DeLorme p. 82; Pranty p. 116
PINELLAS COUNTY
At Ft. DeSoto Park a SWAINSON’S WARBLER was seen just left of the privet trail at East Beach Woods on Monday 7th (S. & M. Turner). An ELEGANT TERN was seen at Ft. DeSoto on Thursday 10th. It was at East Beach with the usual tern flock. It was first seen around 8:45 AM and it was still there at least until 10 AM but was gone by 2pm. (J. Puschock). The tern was seen again at the same spot throughout Friday morning (M. Wilkinson). DeLorme p. 90; Pranty p. 126
CHAROLETTE COUNTY
At Stump Pass State Park at the southern end of Manasota Key in there have been LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS seen there since Tuesday (M. Dunson). DeLorme p. 104
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
At Lucky Hammock a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and LEAST FLYCATCHER were still being seen as of Sunday 6th (A. Kirschel). DeLorme p. 122
MONROE COUNTY
Inside Everglades NP a male SHINY COWBIRD was feeding on grass seed in front of the Flamingo Visitor’s Center in the company of a dozen Brown-headed Cowbirds on Saturday 5th. They also feed in an area adjacent to the marina, where you will see black dirt next to a leaning light pole (P. Bithorn). DeLorme p. 121; Pranty p. 234
Good Birding!
Documentation of rarities for FL Ornithological Society Records
Committee should be sent to:
FOSRC, c/o Archbold Biological Station, PO Box 2057,
Lake Placid FL 33862.
Website: http://www.fosbirds.org/
Florida Rare Bird Alert Mail-list: To subscribe go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FLRBA
Florida Birding website: http://www.javaswift.com/floridabirds/
FLORIDABIRDS-L website: http://bkpass.tripod.com/floridabirds.htm
For more information on Florida bird sightings, locations, and
discussion please visit the following archives:
Statewide sightings/discussion listserv:
BIRDBRAINS: http://listserv.admin.usf.edu/archives/brdbrain.html
FLABIRDING: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FlaBirding/
FLORIDABIRDS-L: http://www.lists.ufl.edu/archives/floridabirds-l.html
Regional sightings/discussion listservs:
North Florida: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nflbirds/
East Florida: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Eastbirders/
Southwest Florida: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWFLBirdline/
Southeast Florida: http://tropicalaudubon.org/tasboard/index.html
Brian Ahern
Tampa, FL.
BrianAhern@aol.com