Today was our first day at the Dry Tortugas and it was wonderful. We left the marina in Key West at about 4:30 this morning and began heading west. On our way over we birded for pelagic species and I saw several lifebirds but nothing unexpected. We arrived at the fort a little after 1:00 and headed inside. The rest of the evening we explored the area inside and around Ft. Jefferson looking for migrant birds. We had a multitude of warblers including a Chestnut-sided Warbler that was our best bird of the early afternoon. However, the best bird of the day was a La Sagre's Flycatcher found late in the afternoon inside the fort. This bird represents only the second or third record ever for the island and one of only a few for the state this year. It took us a little while to identify the bird but it was also very cooperative and allowed close approach and study. I was able to capture a number of images of the bird and this is the best in my eyes.
          Tomorrow we spend the early morning until about 9:00 birding the fort and then head over to Loggerhead Key to look for migrants and a Short-eared Owl that has been seen there off and on throughout the season. I will be joining Sonny Bass, the supervisory wildlife biologist for both Everglades National Park and Dry Tortugas as they go into the Sooty Tern colony to do a nest count. This should be a great opportunity and I was not expecting to be able to do it. However, we ran into Sonny today and he has helped me out before so he offered to have me tag along. From there we will head to Loggerhead and then back to the fort for an afternoon of birding. This is an amazing place and I look forward to the next few days.

March

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
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6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31