The National Audubon Society’s 120th annual Christmas Bird Count reached Fort Myers Beach Sunday amid a cold snap and red tide resurgence which may have depressed turnout. The local group’s count also spanned out to Bonita Springs and the Estero Bay Preserve State Park.
It is too early to tell how the watchers did on Sunday, but bird activity has seemed to decline locally since October when Lake Okeechobee releases began.
Penny Jarrett, who compiles data for the local Fort Myers-Estero Bay area bird count, said bird activity was higher earlier in the year when the beach was quieter.
Jarrett said there are many birds on the local shores who have migrated from long distances, as far as the Arctic, such as black-bellied plovers and sanderlings.
Jarrett said those observing birds should try to avoid interfering with the birds by keeping their distance when walking, running or bicycling. Disturbing the birds leads them to expend energy by flying away when they are trying to rest after having flied long distances in their migration.
Last year, the most common birds found were pelicans, cormorants, grackles, gulls, ibis, starling, egrets, doves, turkey vultures and yellow-rumped warblers.
Among the birds spotted the least by watchers for the Fort Myers region were the barn owl, Caspian terns, lesser scaup, northern harrier, northern parula, ovenbird, sharp-shinned hawk, short-tailed hawk, Wilson’s snipe and orange-crowned warbler.
The beach near Newton Park in the mid-morning saw a little bird action with an osprey flying by and appearances from groups of gulls, willets, ruddy turnstones and snowy egrets.
“You can remember the snowy egret because it wears its yellow boots,” said bird watcher Cathy Balas.
Balas, a local government retiree from Ohio, said she picked up a love of birds from her 96-year-old mother Betty.
“We had a bird feeder in our house. We would put corn in the bird feeder,” Balas said. The feeder attracted many pheasants and cardinals. The cardinals were her favorite growing up though now she enjoys ruddy turnstones for the way they hunt for food by turning over shells. She also enjoys going to the south end of the island to watch baby black skimmers.
The beach near Newton Park on Sunday was littered with countless dead fish, ghost crabs and blue crabs, and other aquatic life which appeared to have died off from the red tide surge this past month.
While a tough sight to see, some beach goers explored the shells that washed up as gulls chewed away at dead eels and other fish. Balas said the scene didn’t compare to 2018 when truckloads of fish were being shoveled off the beach.
Audrey Albrecht, who works as a biologist for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Commission and who took part in bird watching at Estero Bay Preserve State Park, said birds can become sick from eating the infected fish. The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife in Sanibel has reported an uptick in red tide deaths among birds in recent months. Not all fish are affected, such as turkey vultures.
At New Pass Bridge, a large number of turkey vultures could be seen circling in the sky. Scott and Dena Berglund, who were covering the count there, said they saw dozens of turkey vultures lined up this past week at Barefoot Beach Preserve cleaning up dead fish which had washed ashore due to red tide.
“The thing about birding for me it it’s like a treasure hunt,” said Mrs. Berglund. “You might not find anything but we always do.”
At Lynn Hall Memorial Park, the pelicans were highly active though onlookers had little interest in them as two dolphins circling the Gulf of Mexico made young swimmers flirt with the notion of wading deep enough to reach out to the popular mammals.
- An osprey soars over some homes near Newton Park on Fort Myers Beach Sunday.
"bird" - Google News
December 28, 2020 at 11:17PM
https://ift.tt/37Wkd49
Chilly Christmas Bird Count | News, Sports, Jobs - Fort Myers Beach Talk
"bird" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2s1zYEq
https://ift.tt/3dbExxU
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Chilly Christmas Bird Count | News, Sports, Jobs - Fort Myers Beach Talk"
Post a Comment