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Posted by Alex Harper on 19:35:12 10/25/12
In Reply to: no seabirds (yet?) posted by steve siegel
I hunkered down behind a stack of beach chairs on Miami Beach this afternoon with my scope. The only birds offshore were Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns, and Magnificent Frigatebirds. The most unusual sighting that seemed to be associated with the storm was a water skeeter (or strider) scooting around in the sand...
I checked several areas around Biscayne Bay, and could not turn anything up.
Should there be a very close connection between storm-blown birds and bathymetry (depth), which there appears to be, taking a look at some of these nautical charts will help you get an idea of which places are adjacent to water depth just offshore. I will attach the NOAA collection for the SE Florida, then a chart displaying the bathymetry from just off Sunny Isles Beach to Key Biscayne. You'll be able to see the depth off of Sunny Isles and along Miami Beach are deeper than that off of Key Biscayne. So, as suggested by several other birders I spoke to today, Miami Beach is likely better for seawatching than off of Key Biscayne.
Simply click on the map to zoom in, and scroll by manipulating the moveable red box within the smaller map on the top left. At the very least, at least you'll get a look at the sedimentation along our coast.
NOAA chart collection: http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/AtlanticCoastViewerTable.shtml
Sunny Isles to Key Biscayne chart: http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/11467.shtml
Keep vigilant, tomorrow morning will be the windiest and likely better for pelagics.
Alex
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