Last weekend I had the pleasure of a five-day weekend, and flew down to St. Petersburg, Florida. While I wasn’t there for birding, I couldn’t resist bringing my binoculars and camera along with. And, not having gone birding in Florida before, I was treated to several additions to my life list.
First was this female Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga), which was perched atop this tree, calling, alongside the marsh for the entire time that we walked about along the trails in the Boyd Hill Nature Park. Its partner was perched nearby on a post in the marsh itself.
Another lifer is this one, which I was surprised to see (if it is what I think it is): a Red Knot (Calidris canutus). I’m uncertain as to whether my identification is correct though, because I would have thought that it would have headed North for breeding season by now, and it appears to be in-between winter and breeding plumages, or something else altogether (Short-billed Dowitcher? but the bill isn’t long enough, and it too might’ve migrated by now). Tough one.
Other good photos include this Tri-colored Heron (Egretta tricolor):
And this (female) Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major).
Others additions to my life list, but did not get good photos of, include:
Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)
Royal Tern (Sterna maxima)
Gray Kingbird (Tyrannus dominicensis)
White Ibis (Eudocimus albus)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)
I don’t know precisely what the count is at for my life list, but I think I’m getting close to a modest 250.
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