Location
Florida, Monroe, Dry Tortugas National Park, Garden Key, Monroe County, Florida, US ( Map )
Date and Effort
Wed Apr 11, 2018 7:47 AM
- Protocol:
- Traveling
- Party Size:
- 2
- Duration:
- 4 hour(s), 51 minute(s)
- Distance:
- 4.0 mile(s)
- Observers:
- Bill Pranty , Valeri Ponzo List
- Comments:
- With Valeri Ponzo; thanks to the extreme generosity of Jeanne Dubi, we were part of a Florida Nature Tours trip led by Wes Biggs and Dave Goodwin. Unlike yesterday afternoon, when Val and I stayed inside Fort Jefferson, this morning we also explored the moat, the campground, and the brick piles. We stopped for lunch (served in the campground by the crew of the Playmate) at 1238, which ended this eBird checklist. Othher taxa: a barracuda and many groupers in the moat.
Val with a friend.
From the campground, we walked around the fort as much as possible, but a section of the moat perimeter was broken off by Hurricane Irma in September 2017.
The sign to Bush Key, which is now connected to Hospital Key; because of the nesting seabirds, we did not travel beyond this sign.
Species
41 species (+1 other taxa) total
1 |
Bill only |
|---|---|
4 |
Huddled together in a copse of Buttonwoods |
1 |
Singing |
1 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
Adult male and a presumed adult female in the flowering Geiger Tree inside the restricted rangers' residence |
8 |
Perched on the southern coaling dock remains |
X |
|
X |
Hundreds at least visible on Bush Key |
1 |
Perched on the southern coaling dock remains; Bill only |
25 |
|
9 |
5 and 4 |
1 |
|
1 |
Adult |
7 |
|
1 |
Maybe they're regular here, but I was surprised to see this (I presume it was _carolinensis_ but I don't remember looking at the face). |
1 |
Feeding on a palm trunk in the campground while campers were within 6 feet! Not in my field notebook. |
2 |
Male and female |
1 |
Adult |
1 |
Presumably the same bird from yesterday; it was in the same copse of Buttonwoods (I took no photographs of it today). |
1 |
|
3 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
|
1 |
martin sp. (Progne sp.)Female-plumaged overhead |
1 |
|
15 |
Many more than here yesterday |
3 |
Val found 2 freshly dead inside the parade grounds; Wes was to give the carcasses to Archbold Biological Station. |
1 |
I just found this species in my photographs! Val was not with me at the time. |
3 |
Singles |
1 |
I flushed it point-blank between 3 palms literally inches from the picnic table where lunch was being served. The sparrow flew to the fort and briefly perched awkwardly on one of the bricks on the fort's main wall. I nearly got a photograph, but the sparrow then flew inside one of the "windows" on the second floor of the fort. It perched for a few seconds with its head visible above the bricks. I saw an obvious sparrow (small, overall brown landbird) with a grayish face and a narrow white eyering. It wasn't a great look but considering the location -- coupled with Savannah Sparrow and Grasshopper Sparrow being easily ruled out -- I'm confident of the identification. |
1 |
Adult male not yet in full alternate plumage. Val saw it fly in from the Gulf and land in one of the tall Sea Grapes near the helipad. I tried for photographs but the bird moved out of sight. |
1 |
Adult male in the same Geiger Tree as the hummingbirds |
1 |
We missed it yesterday but saw it today; I couldn't get photographs |
1 |
Female; Bill only |
4 |
Minimum; 2 males and 2 females |
1 |
|
6 |
1, 3, 1, and 1 |
2 |
Singles, the darkly-streaked bird from yesterday and one in more-typical basic plumage |
1 |
Presumably the same bird from yesterday |
1 |
Not in my field notebook |
1 |
Bright blue male |
Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you were able to identify?