Sunny, High 80s, light breeze
We’ve traveled west to the Gulf Coast of Florida and Fort DeSoto Park outside of St. Petersburg. The park lies on a peninsula of land which juts out into the Gulf of Mexico and is basically the first landfall migrants flying across the gulf see as they head north. We hope to hit the park at a time when meteorological conditions are just right, allowing mass numbers of the warblers to get across the gulf, but dissuading them from moving further north until conditions are even better for the next leg of their journey.
Warblers are the target this week, but there is much more to be had at this birding Mecca. Today, we found precious few warblers. In fact, a couple of Palm warblers were all we could account for at days end. Was the day a bust? Far from it! Among the top sightings of the day were our first-of –the-year Long-billed curlew, several fine Marbled godwits, Wilson’s and Piping plovers, and Stilt sandpipers.
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| Marbled godwit |
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| Long-billed curlew |
Once again, love was in the air. Almost every Laughing gull we saw was paired with a mate and not about to wander too far from one another.
Eventually, we did come across a pair which were consummating the union.
We’ll be up early tomorrow morning as we wait to see what the weather has planned for us. Hopefully, well-known sites such as the Mulberry Tree, the Drip, and the Beach areas will provide those desired warblers. Only tomorrow will tell.
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