Greetings from South Florida! The east winds have been blowing so Gannets are in shore and easier to view, as well as a few Frigate Birds. Yesterday, I observed several gulls going after a Frigate. The gulls were no match for it, as its flight was effortless by comparison and they are professional pirates of the sea.
This year I was fortunate to get a territory for the Christmas Bird Count held here on December 29th. It was a shorts and flip flop day. Pat Hayes, my long time birding pal down here and I began about 6:30 a.m. with a Yellow Crowned Night Heron as first bird of the day. Pat and I scanned the low tide exposed flats along the Intercoastal and had Black Bellied Plovers, Willets, Brown Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons and tons of Ring Billed Gulls. We hopped into my convertible and headed to the Boynton Beach Inlet…not many birds. Our group only tallied 40 species with an Oyster Catcher being the most unusual critter for the small condo packed corridor that Pat and I surveyed.
The past couple of days a Peregrine Falcon has been crusing the condos. Rather scarce today are the dozen or so Killdeer making a living on the next building’s grounds or even hanging out on the 7 story roof, who have been waking me up for two weeks along with the groups of chattering Starlings. Good eats around here for a Peregrine Falcon with lots of Eurasian Collared Doves and Sanderlings, too. Wow, the Peregrine Falcon just challenged a Turkey Vulture. The Vulture displayed some great bob and weave, too! One doesn’t usually think of Vultures as agile. There’s always something to see from the balcony.
Hope you all enjoyed your holidays and your Christmas Bird Count days.
Happy New Year!
Jody Levin