A Birder's Life for Me

Fort Zach was dripping with warblers this morning.  A storm front to the north last night forced them to sit down on Key West, temporarily interrupting their northward migration.  As such, they were in full worm-hunting mode including this Swainson's Warbler...

The ever-present Palm Warbler...

The Cape May Warbler...

And, Blackpoll Warbler.

Not to be confused with the Blackpoll Warbler, this Black and White Warbler came to a fork in a tree.  So, he took it.

This Black-throated Blue Warbler took a break to survey the sea grapes for its next catch.

Other warblers on display this morning included Prairie Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, American Restart, Blue-winged Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Worm-eating Warbler and Northern Parula.

Other notable species today included this White-crowned Pigeon.  Although this species is more widely found in Cuba, the Bahamas and other Caribbean locales, it is a common site in Key West.

The resident Gray Catbirds were as busy looking for worms as the warblers.

This migrating Chuck-Wills Widow was sleeping the day away in plain sight.  These birds are active at night and typically tough to spot during the day, let alone get a photo.

And, finally, this Yellow-billed Cuckoo also stopped for the day before continuing its migration north.

Two days ago, Fort Zach was all but bird-less.  It's amazing how the weather impacts whether the birds stop or simply fly over to the mainland on their migration.