Posted by Bryant Roberts on November 09, 2001 at 20:48:02:
I was able to spend this afternoon observing the sandbar off the
Flamingo Visitors Center continuously from 1:00 until 4:45 from the
upper breezeway. This covered the time from when the bar was
under shallow water and the first waders and shorebirds were
beginning to gather, until it was high and dry and most birds that
had stopped had moved on. The main event, as I had anticipated
was the American White Pelicans. For the first 1 and 3/4 hours of
my vigil there was only a single White Pelican on the sandbar, but
at 2:45 flocks began arriving from the west. By 3:30 there were
about 300 WP on the sandbar and many began leaving as more
arrived and by 3:45 the balance had increased to about 400 with
about another 200 having left. From 3:45 until 4:20 at least another 650
had come in from the west with few if any leaving, giving a total of
about 1,050 American White Pelicans on or near the sandbar. Sibley gives
their average weight as 16.4 lb so that would add up to over 8.6 tons of
White Pelicans. At 4:20 they began streaming off towards the east in
large numbers, forming long diagonal lines of white as they flew off low
over the dark water towards Joe Kemp Key and on to Snake Bight. By 4:30
their numbers had dropped to a little over 300, and by 4:45 when I left to
about 100. When I stopped by to check again at 5:15 there were only 4
remaining. The peak number of 1050 at 4:20 added to the 200 that passed
through before then adds up to at least 1250 White Pelicans in northern
Florida Bay. Before my attention was turned to counting White Pelicans
there was plenty to observe, waders gathering in the shallows and
shorebirds stopping on there westward flight towards the flats near Sandy
Key. Of most interest was a “Pink” Ibis that was the color of an adult
Flamingo, a Peregrine Falcon that made several passes early in the
afternoon, and 6 Gull-billed Terns sitting on the sandbar. Here are the
peak numbers for birds on and around the sandbar this afternoon-
American White Pelican - 1050
Brown Pelican - 16
Double-crested Cormorant - 110
Great Blue Heron - 3
Great Egret - 42
Snowy Egret - 110
Little Blue Heron - 18
Reddish Egret - 1 (dark phase)
White Ibis - 6 (“Pink” Ibis - 1)
Roseate Spoonbill - 3
Turkey Vulture - 6
Osprey - 3
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Black-bellied Plover - 7
Semipalmated Plover - 3
Willet - 75
Spotted Sandpiper - 2
Marbled Godwit - 22
Ruddy Turnstone - 1
Red Knot - 30
“Peep” - 20
Dunlin - 150 (many more flew past without landing)
Dowitcher (sp.) - 250
Laughing Gull - 100
Ring-billed Gull - 2
Gull-billed Tern - 6
Caspian Tern - 20
Royal Tern - 10
Forster’s Tern - 3
Yesterday (11/7) I walked the main highway for about 1/4 mile in both
directions from 9 Mile Pond looking for the Lark Sparrow. The Lark
Sparrow was not to be found but I did see my FOTS Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker, a Savannah Sparrow, and a Cooper’s Hawk. A walk around Eco
Pond got me good looks at a Peregrine Falcon and a dark phase Short-tailed
Hawk. Early in the afternoon two dark phase Short-tailed Hawks spent some
time patrolling above the marina.