Florida 2009 – The Dry Tortugas

It was a smooth ride out aboard the Yankee Freedom II, aka the Yankee Cat, to the Dry Tortugas (above) 70 miles west of Key West. A couple of quick moving rain showers dampened the start but there were a few Northern Gannets to keep us happy. With the winds continuing to whip out of the east at 20 plus knots the number of birds were few and far between. A jaeger species, likely Pomarine, flew across the bow a good distance away, circled a fishing boat and kept moving. It was not until we were well beyond Rebecca Shoals that we had our first Sooty Terns and Brown Noddy’s, the two ubiquitous species nesting on Bush Key. There is small population of Masked Boobies that nest on the Tortugas, and it was nice to have our initial sighting fly across the bow of the boat.

The 2 1/4 hr journey was soon over and there was anticipation as to what birds would greet us on Garden Key (above). Since we only had 4 1/2 hrs on the island I thought it best to begin by concentrating on searching for that needle in a haystack, the Black Noddy. Yes, that Black Noddy, the only known one within North America!

Positioning ourselves at the top of the fort (above) by the lighthouse, a cloudy morning (as opposed to normally looking into the sun) made it far easier to see the birds. Besides us Magnificent Frigatebirds (below) would hang motionless or glide effortlessly by us.

Brown Noddy’s and Sooty Terns were on their nesting territories (below) with young of the latter more prevalent than the former. It was amongst these birds that we would have to look for a Black Noddy.

Working our way left to right, right to left and back again we looked for a smaller darker bird than the Brown Noddy, with a clean white cap, amongst the hundreds of Browns. Individual birds would come and go, others were busy preening, a group of the them would take off, others would replace them, it was a constant shuffle. Barb and I simultaneously got onto one bird that looked good, but with it facing away we wanted to be sure, then just like that it took off never to return to that spot. We continued scanning trying to make sure we could id every bird before moving on. Then some half an hour later I locate a darker individual that looked like a good candidate. Its back was turned, but one could see how it was certainly far more slender that the Brown Noddy next to it. It moved its head and the white cap always seemed to stay ‘on’, never fading away. The thinner bill was noticeable. It then turned sideways as it preened and that clinched it for those that wanted further proof of its size and contrasting molting coverts. From the top of the fort we also picked out a Brown Booby on the closest buoy marker.

We delved into the historical aspect of this nineteenth century Fort Jefferson as we weaved our way through the campground, the vicinity of the north coaling docks and the parade grounds (above). There was a splash of color in the form of a few warblers, Cape May (below top), Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, Blackpoll, a female Hooded, a handful of Palms and American Redstarts, the latter giving us looks at the various plumages the sexes have. Indigo Buntings (below center), Orchard Oriole and a couple of roving Sharp-shinned Hawks made up the remainder of the birds. In reality it was a rather small number of birds, and one of the poorest showings I have ever seen on the island. It was shame really, but our limited time was more than enough on this day.

The return journey would be far different. The winds had picked up and we were now heading right into a 25 knot wind. We paused long enough to see the 50 or so Masked Boobies that were now nesting on Middle Key (below), as opposed to Hospital Key, and then continued on our way. The hatches were buttoned down and most people opted to stay inside the cabin. It was a rough ride slamming into the waves many times. It took a lot longer to reach Rebecca Shoals but we definitely knew when we were there, as people began to head outside for fresh air! The ride took at least an additional half an hour, and we were glad to reach terra firma.

Back in Key West, luck stayed on our side as just after sunset an Antillean Nighthawk called and lifted off about a hundred yards from where we were positioned. It called three more times and headed deep over Key West.

Next….. Vagrants