Re: TAS Birdathon 2003

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: On Saturday, April 19, 2003, Dick Cunningham, Helen and I, the “Presidential” team also participated in the Tropical Audubon Society’s Birdathon 2003. With much trash talking by myself to Paul B, I too wanted to break previous records (I had 72 last year having been severly slowed down by Herald reporter and photographer). Helen and I shoved off at 5:00 am picked up Dick C and headed to ENP. Our first bird was Chuck-wills-widow calling. Before long we had a cacophony of songs as the the sunrise quicky came upon us. What a wonderful way to start the morning. : We totaled 106 species (I did not count the peacock at the old Parrot Jungle) in 15-hours and 244 miles venturing into Monroe County and then back to Miami-Dade. At 8 pm when the "Life is good team called we were looking at our last bird of the day, burrowing owl. I might have to give Paul credit for this bird since he identified its "bark" over the phone. They did not call just to know our count but because they were thirsty and with their total I believe that I owe them a few "cold ones". Looks like I will have to change my plan of attack to beat this formidable foe. : Here is the list of all species seen by the "Presidential" team during the Birdathon: : Pied-billed Grebe : White Pelican : Brown Pelican : Double-crested Cormorant : Anhinga : Magificent Frigatebird : Least Bittern : Great Blue Heron (both forms) : Great Egret : : Snowy Egret : Little Blue Heron : Tricolored Heron : Reddish Egret (both forms) : Cattle Egret : Green Heron : White Ibis : Roseate Spoonbill : Black Vulture : Turkey Vulture : : Mallard (feral) : Mottled Duck : Muscovy : Osprey : Swallow-tailed Kite : Bald Eagle : Red-shouldered Hawk : Northern Bobwhite : Common Moorhen : American Coot : : Black-bellied Plover : Semipalmated Plover : Killdeer : Black-necked Stilt : Willet : Spotted Sandpiper : Ruddy Turnstone : Least Sandpiper : Short-billed Dowitcher : Laughing Gull : : Ring-billed Gull : Caspian Tern : Royal Tern : Least Tern : Rock Dove : White-crowned Pigeon : Eurasian Collared-Dove : White-winged Dove : Mourning Dove : Common Ground-Dove : : Monk Parakeet : Yellow-Chevroned Parakeet : White-winged Parakeet : Red-masked Parakeet : White-fronted Parrot : Yellow-crowned Parrot : Eastern Screech Owl : Burrowing Owl : Barred Owl : Common Nighthawk : : Chuck-will’s widow : Belted Kingfisher : Red-bellied Woodpecker : Yellow-bellied Sapsucker : Downy Woodpecker : Northern Flicker : Great Crested Flycatcher : Eastern Kingbird : Loggerhead Shrike : White-eyed Vireo : : Blue Jay : American Crow : Fish Crow : Purple Martin : Cave Swallow : Barn Swallow : Carolina Wren : House Wren : Eastern Bluebird : Gray Catbird : : Northern Mockingbird : Brown thrasher : European Starling : Common Myna : Hill Myna : Northern Parula : Magnolia Warbler : Black-throated Blue Warbler : Yellow-rumped Warbler : Pine Warbler : : Prairie Warbler : Palm Warbler : Black-and-white Warbler : American Redstart : Common Yellowthroat : Eastern Towhee : Savannah Sparrow : Northern Cardinal : Indigo Bunting : Painted Bunting : :Red-winged Blackbird : Eastern Meadowlark : Common Grackle : Boat-tailed Grackle : Spot-breasted Oriole : Baltimore Oriole : House Sparrow : I cannot say it any better than Paul. Please support TAS and join the fun of the Bird-a-thon. : Joe : "Life is good.........when utilizing your passion for birding in furthering the causes of the conservation movement. Let’s face it folks, no habitat-no birds. If you are interested in participating in this year’s Birdathon, go to the tropicalaudubon.org website."

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