A Birder's Life for Me

It has been a productive week of birding in the Key West area with son Matthew and grandson Henry.

The highlight of my week was spotting the Fork-tailed Flycatcher shown below.  This species is rarely scene in the U.S.  As of April 4, there has been 1 other sighting of this species in the continental U.S. this year per ebird.  It's range is typically from South America north to the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.

This eased my jealousy just a bit over my son's photographing the Pearly-eyed Thrasher just a few a days before.  That species had never been observed in the U.S.   Never, ever.

https://keysweekly.com/42/wild-things-a-category-5-mega-rarity/

The spring migration and start of the 'big trip' is a couple of weeks away but, we have already observed several early-arriving warblers including Swainson's, Hooded, Worm-eating (pictured below) and Prairie.   

The 2024 species total stands at 218 as of April 3.  In addition to the birding activity, I have been doing some early prep work with new grandson Owen to get him ready to join the birding crew.