Today was another amazing day in Key West! We visited two great spots: Fort Zachary Taylor and the Key West Tropical Forest & Botanical Garden. We managed to catch up on most of the “common locals” that didn’t show up yesterday, and even added a few rare birds!
Early in the morning, we headed towards Fort Zachary Taylor. As soon as we arrived, we can see the hundreds of Laughing Gulls circling above the ocean in the distance. We walked closer, but the reef they are resting on is backlighted, not good for photography. We thus walked forward, trying to find another flock in good position. Soon, we saw a reef with a small flock of birds on it. Looking into the sun, I can see they might not be Laughing Gulls, and are likely just pigeons. As I stepped forward, I can see they are indeed pigeons, but something different was among them. It was a Sandwich Tern, another target of ours!
On our way to Fort Myers, we stopped by Boca Chica Rd. Even though we didn’t find the plovers we were hoping for, we still ended up with some nice surprises.
Added 16 new species today!
Here’s a set of songbird photos to start with.
More coming soon!
Two short videos created by my father to show the summary of the whole day:
Part-1
Part-2: