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Posted by Alex Harper on 12:35:01 10/31/10
I figured it might be worth mentioning a few observations from the Pensacola this past October. We are having large amounts of Golden-crowned Kinglets so far. They have been in my yard, the coastal migrant traps, all over the University of West Florida campus, and of course any wooded area. I was able to come up with five Brown Creepers yesterday along the Escambia River. Two days ago, I was surprised to have a Purple Finch in Ft. Walton Beach. It may be an irruptive year for these species, so birders in the Peninsula should be on the lookout. Golden-crowned Kinglets do show up as far south as Tampa and Orlando every other year or so, and it seems like they might this winter as well. Species like Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, and Purple Finch are on the Miami-Dade checklist, as well.
From what I have read and seen in my three full years up here, it seems that these species overshoot more favorable wintering locations in October and November, end up in Florida, and soon make their way north again. It is likely many of these species and numbers I had this past Friday and Saturday are due to the bottlenecking of migrants during the period of tropical weather influence last week. As soon as the cold front occluded the warm air over the southeast, after several days of SE winds, birds started moving again.
Ducks are starting to show up, and sparrows are here in force. Just last Friday, we had twelve species, including many White-crowned, Field, and Nelson's. Nearly all of the neotropical migrants have departed. Keep an eye out for these and winter vagrants from the north. This year, so far, seems a little more likely for them to show up than most.
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