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DESTINATION - SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
BIRD SIGHTINGS
Provided by SRQ Bird Alert
17 December 2009 - I had two to three dozen Northern Gannets from the beach on
Longboat Key 4800 to 6000 block this morning. Good birding.
Mark Davis
16 December 2009 - Spent a beautiful morning birding the a couple of the Gulf Coast Keys
yesterday. After reading the post about the Great Black-backed Gull, I decided to go out and look for it. I
started at the northern end of Ana Maria Island and worked my way south to Longboat Key. Not many shorebirds around
(just a few Sanderlings), but a nice variety of gulls and terns were seen. I did manage to see a
young Northern Gannet right over the shore line. This was a bit surprising because of the wind direction. I
thought they would be way out in the gulf, not right on shore. Forster's, Royal, and Sandwich Terns were
plentiful. A few Herring Gulls, and Ring-billed Gulls were seen among many Laughing Gulls. I have
some immature birds with tentative IDs that I would like feedback on. I think there's one first year Herring Gull,
and two first Year Great-black Backed Gulls.
Dan Irizarry, Bradenton
16 December 2009 - I learned that Indian House Crows ( up to 6) have been sighted
at 995 Riverside Drive (boat ramp) in Palmetto, FL. Should you be in that area, please look for them and let me know
should you see any (and how many, etc.). The Indian House Crow is found in large numbers in South Asia (they
were an everyday backyard bird for us during two years in New Delhi, India). They are also ship riders and have
established colonies in Singapore, East Africa, Suez, Gibraltar, Rotterdam, Israel, and South Africa.
Peter Rice
15 December 2009 - Yesterday (Tuesday) there were a half-dozen pairs of hooded
mergansers in the small pond north of Denny's Restaurant on Rt.41 and Beneva Rd intersection (across from Sarasota
Square Mall). I've seen the hooded mergansers in this same pond several times in the past week when driving south
on Rt.41
Mary Jane Beeman
14 December - December - Yesterday on the Myakka River CBC the highlight of our
"patch" was a young male Dickcissel. Tommy Elliott discovered this little gem about 45 feet from the
end of the "birdwalk" in a small brushy weed. Regards and good birding.
Jeff Palmer, Sarasota
13 December 2009 - A female Hooded Merganser was seen diving and chasing fish
around 1 PM Sunday Dec 13 in the small pond adjacent to Albritton’s Nursery, 4151 Proctor at Proctor Oaks.
Stanley Rodak
12 December 2009 - While fishing at the south end of Coquina Beach near the Longboat Key
bridge, I had an immature Great Black-Backed Gull picking at a mullet carcass on the beach.
Jeff Fisher, Bradenton
11 December 2009 - This morning at about 7:15am, I saw a very dark, large hawk
going north over Honore, just east of N. Lockwood Ridge Road. I stopped the car and managed to get my bins on it then I
could see a distinct darker belly band and no red tail. There was light streaking on the upper breast. I immediately
thought of the sub-species Harlan’s. I see that the occurrence of this bird in Florida is very rare, so I can’t
be sure. It may also be simply a dark morph Red-Tailed, also unusual. Folks should be on the lookout for this bird in
the Manatee/Sarasota area. In addition, I saw a N. Harrier. I returned to the same spot with Rick Greenspun and
Kathryn Young in late morning to see if we could relocate the hawk. No luck, although we were treated to a pair of
Bald Eagles doing a sky dance, a Cooper’s Hawk streaking by, a Sharp-shinned Hawk chasing a bird,
a kestrel, an Osprey, a Red-shouldered Hawk, and scores of Black and Turkey Vultures.
All of these raptors were seen along a 100-yard stretch of Honore—raptor alley!
Jeanne Dubi, Sarasota
11 December 2009 - I was at Venice Beach today, 12/11, between 3 and 4p. To the north
side of the life guard station, there were at least sixty black skimmers, along with lots of sanderlings,
terns, and gulls. Among them, I noted a few Forster's and a couple of Sandwich terns.
Elaine Rimbach, Venice
10 December 2009 - While walking the beach at the Charlotte County end of Manasota Key
(Englewood Beach), I was happy to see a large group (aprox. 75) of Black Skimmers in a flock of the usual suspects.
None were observed feeding, but the surf was a bit rough with a brisk north wind.
Frank DeSteno
9 December 2009 - After a cancelled boat trip due to heavy fog, I took a stroll on N. Lido
beach. Along with the usual, there were about 40 Herring Gulls, 100 Red Knots (only one tagged) and a
first year Common Tern. In N. Lido woods: Hordes of Palm and Yellow rumps, one B&W , Yellow Throated warbler, Blue headed Vireo, Downy and Red bellied Woodpeckers/
and tons of Gnatcatchers. Good Birding.
Rick Geenspun
Please send your input about rare and/or interesting bird sightings to:
SRQbirdalerts@msn.com"
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