Birds

Sharing the Beach with Birds

June 28, 2011

I was disheartened this morning to read a story by Lisa Neff this morning in The Islander newspaper about black skimmer nesting grounds on Anna Maria Island being vandalized three times in the past week during the night. This is the time of year when many of our beautiful beach birds are trying to give [...]

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Dead Birds Falling from the Sky Becomes Top News Story

January 7, 2011

Most people don’t pay much attention to birds, probably because people don’t look up very often. We generally don’t have any idea how many birds there are around us at any given time. A big flock of crows might catch our attention, and the classic V-shape of geese in the autumn sky is always worth [...]

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Black Terns Hanging out on Gandy Beach

August 9, 2010

Thanks to a post by Ron Smith of USF’s BRDBRAIN listserve, I saw my first black tern today. I’ve lived in Florida all my life and have paid pretty close attention to birds and I’ve seen a lot of terns, but never a black tern. This afternoon Suzie and I took a drive across town [...]

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Sanderling – Common Shorebirds on Florida Beaches

March 28, 2010

One of the cutest and most common shorebirds found on Florida’s beaches is the Sanderling [Calidris alba]. It is also one of the whitest. Visible fieldmarks aside, you could identify this bird by its behavior alone. It is a very small bird (8 inches) with short black legs and runs rapidly up and down the [...]

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Brown Crested Flycatcher Visits Fort Desoto Park

March 28, 2010

I spent Saturday morning birding at Fort Desoto Park with the friendly folks of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society. We were looking for shorebirds, which turned out to be in short supply. So we turned our attention to having a look for the Brown-crested flycatcher that has been reported in the north beach area for [...]

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Birding with St. Pete Audubon–Shorebirds at Fort Desoto Park

March 6, 2010

Shortly after 8 a.m. this morning I found myself standing out on the rather chilly mud flats at Fort Desoto County Park with members of the St. Petersburg Audubon Society, hoping to learn about shorebirds. For a novice, shorebirds are incredibly challenging to identify. But with the assistance of experienced birders I found myself quickly [...]

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Report Florida Sightings of Banded Shorebirds at BandedBirds.org

March 1, 2010

Have you seen a shorebird with colored bands or numbered flags on its legs? You can report your sighting at BandedBirds.org. The web site asks for a description on the bands, the location of the sighting, the date and time, the weather, the birds environment, the size of the flock and how many banded birds [...]

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Florida Screech Owls Encouraged by Nest Boxes

December 28, 2009

Posted by David McRee at BlogtheBeach.com

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Handfeeding Hummingbirds

November 17, 2009

I hardly ever see hummingbirds anymore, so it’s really cool to see this person hand-feeding one. Thanks to Sharon Steitler at BirdChick.com/wp/ for posting this video.

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Dunedin Osprey Cam Now Live

September 14, 2009

Posted by David McRee at BlogTheBeach.com. Would you like to get a close-up look at an osprey on the nest without placing yourself in danger of those dangerous talons? Now you can. The City of Dunedin has just put a web cam near an osprey nest. Check it out. You never know what you might [...]

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