My father and I had a fantastic time at Fort De Soto this morning. We went hoping for some nice migrants, and we came home with twelve species of warbler, including my first Black-throated Green. Here’s a list of all the warblers we saw in the park: Black-and-white Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, American Redstart, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Palm Warbler, and Black-throated Green Warbler.
On top of these we saw two Eastern Kingbirds, one Veery, several Indigo Buntings, a Painted Bunting, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Blue Grosbeak. We found both a Scarlet and Summer Tanager.
But the biggest surprise was seeing two Whimbrel. One was pretty far a way near the Least Tern breeding platforms. The second landed about 15 feet away from me farther north on North Beach, then after a couple seconds it took off and flew around me allowing me to get some good looks and photos. It’s possible that this second sighting was of the same Whimbrel, if it flew north to where we were.
And a Snowy Egret decided to go fishing in really nice light. I was able to get down low to get a good angle on the egret.
My dad was there with me, and he has much better photographic equipment than I do. If you want to see his photos from today, he will eventually post them here. It may be a little while before he posts his photos, though.
Scott Simmons
Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.
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