TBT - June 5, 2016

xenia

OK, so not a fish story, but I was on the water.  Chasing birds on 6/5/16 we found the first documented record of Fea's Petrel for Florida 10 miles off Elliott Key.  A week before a trip out of Canaveral found Florida's first documented record of European Storm-Petrel.  This is an interesting time of year when birds are travelling long distances and over the ocean there are no barriers so you never know what you will find.  I will be out there tomorrow to hopefully find something even better.  News at 11:00

The Cat's Eye

Decades ago my wife was an avid bird watcher and even raised a few song birds from eggs in an incubator from nests destroyed by predators. (She did not have a permit for this and i convinced her to eventually give it up). When we were far out in the Gulfstream trolling at this time of the year she would carry a shoe box to give migrating birds a rest and some water after i would position the boat's bow under a bird barely making headway so it could take a rest on the bow. Then she would transfer it to the shoe box with a cover and provide it with fresh water. The birds always drank without hesitation. After a twenty to thirty minute rest they would fly off and resume their migration.

catchemup

amazing story Cat's Eye. Thanks.

lemaymiami

Very cool... I can remember one or two birds setting down on my skiff way out offshore years ago when I was hook and lining in the eighties as a solo operator.  I very carefully left them alone until - after a brief rest the bird would get flying again to wherever it was going... Never had one set down on my skiff inshore...

xenia

Been there, done that.
Black-throated Blue Warbler, male


American Redstart, female

Jack Hexter

I've had several small birds land on the boat when offshore, but this was the coolest, 35 miles offshore.  It landed 3 times before it flew off for good.

xenia

Osprey.  Many raptors, including Ospreys leave North America every Fall and return in Spring.  In one day in October 2015, the hawkwatch on Long Key counted over 1500 Peregrine Falcons migrating south.  Single day record for North America.

xenia

I didn't get the mega rarity I was hoping for on Friday, but did see this Arctic Tern feeding along the jetty at Black Point Marina.  This species migrates 10,000 miles twice a year.  This one was on its way north to its breeding grounds in the high latitudes.

CaptJ

xenia said:

I didn't get the mega rarity I was hoping for on Friday, but did see this Arctic Tern feeding along the jetty at Black Point Marina.  This species migrates 10,000 miles twice a year.  This one was on its way north to its breeding grounds in the high latitudes.

We had a flock of them on our chum slick Friday. Very neat bird.

The Cat's Eye

Decades ago my wife raised a Blue Jay to adulthood from an incubated egg after the nest was destroyed by a predator.  Before she turned the bird over to a licensed  aviary I set up an “experiment”and proved this bird could count to seven. My experiment is too detailed of a story to describe here but it involved hiding buttons in a heavy flannel shirt. Decades later an ornithologist achieved fame for proving the same thing in a renowned experiment that survived peer review.