This year I decided to escape part of our northeastern winter by spending the entire month of January in the more welcoming climate of Florida. Of course, birding will be a big part of the upcoming month, and after only four days a nice collection of the Florida specialty birds that we don’t see often (or at all) up north has begun. Let’s hope that the trend continues. Here’s some of the highlight species so far:
Roseate Spoonbill
Reddish Egret
White Ibis (common)
Sandhill Crane (common)
Wood Stork
Nanday Parakeet (lifer)
Monk Parakeet
Eurasian Collared-Dove (very common down here)
Common Ground-dove
Anhingha
Barred Owl
American White Pelican
Loggerhead Shrike
Reddish Egret hunting in the gulf
My lifer Nanday Parakeet. This is a non-native species that has established itself in the Tampa-St. Pete area over the past few decades.
Eurasian Collared Dove is another non-native species that is spreading throughout the country; its quite common in this area.
Another benefit of birding in Florida is that I am getting a chance to see our short-distance migrants during the winter months. Most individuals of these species migrate south when the temperatures drop with only a few rare stragglers remaining up north, and a portion of the population wintering here in Florida. Because they don’t travel very far, these migrants typically return back north earlier in spring than other species that winter exclusively in South America. Its good to see them again. Examples of these species include:
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Northern Parula
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Laughing Gull
Black Skimmer
Royal Tern
Brown Thrasher
Osprey
Willet
Wilson’s Snipe
Common Gallinule
Black-crowned Night-heron
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Phoebe
Yellow-throated Warbler
Red-shouldered Hawk
A cooperative Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.