Posted by Robin Diaz on November 07, 2001 at 21:05:33:
Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park was lively today with hundreds of Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers. There were numerous Common Yellowthroats and Tree Swallows. In addition to the usual winter residents (House Wren, Gray Catbird, Eastern Phoebe), there was an Ovenbird, a first winter female Blackpoll Warbler, Blue Grosbeak and Indigo and Painted Buntings. Raptors: Northern Harrier (male), Sharp-shinned Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin and Peregrine Falcon (2). The interior pond trails had Common Snipe, Pied-billed Grebe, Coots, Common Moorhen and a pair of Ring-necked Ducks. Liz Golden (Park Biologist) believes the ducks might be a new species for the park. The Great White Heron that she found last week is still present near the saltwater wetlands. Liz also observed 17 Blue-winged Teal.
From my balcony during the weekend, I observed some interesting birds brought in by the storm: Black Scoter (flock of 17), Northern Gannets, Forster's Tern (2), Anhinga, Pomarine Jaeger (one flock had ~23 jaeger species, but the Pomarine came very close to the window on Monday),and (probable) shearwater species. There were many seabirds off Key Biscayne during the storm, but the weather and distance made it difficult to ID all of them.