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Posted by John Kellam on 12:44:32 10/18/08
Hello. I headed to the Dry Tortugas and camped from October 15-17 2008, to see what fall migration would bring at the fort and surrounding waters. It was windy (easterly 15-30 mph) the entire time; as the winds would pick up in the afternoon, mixed flocks of warblers would stream into the shrubs within the campground and attend the temporary drip that I made. Accipiters (two species) and falcons (three species) were aggressively hunting the interior of the fort and surrounding tree/shrub areas, while numerous Peregrine Falcons were seen perched along the snags of Bush Key. Broad-winged Hawks were also observed within the fort grounds and overhead in low numbers. The presence of hunting birds of prey coupled with moderately strong winds caused the passerines to take cover and required considerable effort to locate them .
I also witnessed a brilliant green flash rise above the setting sun as it sunk below the horizon of the ocean on the first evening I had read of this phenomenon and finally saw it myself.
Good birding - great trip, John
Species list:
Brown Pelican
Magnificent Frigatebird
Double-crested Cormorant
Masked Booby
Brown Booby
Great Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Blue-winged Teal
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper s Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Osprey
Merlin
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Common Moorhen
Black-bellied Plover
Willet
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Laughing Gull
Royal Tern
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Tree Swallow
Gray Catbird
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie warbler
Palm Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Connecticut Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Chipping Sparrow
Baltimore Oriole
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