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Posted by tricia on 17:17:48 05/07/09
Yesterday EagleEye and I headed down to DRTO for the day.
The winds had changed and it was a very pleasant boat ride over and back.
However that change of wind also boded well for the appearance of the Squat Warbler!
In actuality we found the Squat warblers cousins -the Sparse Warblers! Six kinds :Indigo,Prairie,Parula,Common Yellowthroat,CapeMay,upstart Redstarts.
Total number of warblers was less 20, most being redstarts!
Also seen were a Merlin,Barnswallows,Mockingbird,Cattle egret,Gray Kingbird and the carcasses of a wood thrush and a swainsons thrush.
Frigate birds were low and numerous and the Brown Noddies were fun to watch at the North Coaling docks as they unseated each other,nodded and displayed,gathered nesting material etc.
Sooty Terns were certainly around ,but seemed to be in MUCH lower numbers this year.
Masked Boobies were seen from the Yankee Freedom as the Captain graciously stopped the boat in Booby Bay nearby their new home base of Middle Key .
Many turtles were seen on the way out and back,but the 10' Hammerhead shark I saw on the trip back was the the best marine sighting of the day.
We were late getting to Indigenous Park so instead headed up to the Marathon AIrport where we parked on the north side of the terminal and immediately heard and saw two Antillean Nighthawks.
As a side note, the bird water fountain inside the Fort has been repaired.Many thanks to the Audubon folks (?) that found a way to get it fixed.
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