The Loons are catching on in Tampa Bay

OK, so I showed my daughter what a loon looked liked.  She spotted one yesterday in a Tampa Bay body of water and of course, I quizzed her on how sure she was that  it wasn't a cormorant, annhinga, grebe, or surely a merganser. She hesitated and said it was a loon.  So, today, Easter Sunday we set sail on Tampa Bay for a perfect 80 degree day with light easterly winds around 10 knots and less.  She spots two birds and said, "there is a loon!" and I see the other bird a cormorant and luckily I didn't say anything until my binoculars fell upon the second bird a juvenile loon who hesitated flapped its wings and then dove for food not to be seen again.

Thank you Earthwatcher scientists, Andrew East and Darwin Long IVth for teaching me the difference. A confirmed April 8th loon in Tampa Bay.   This day's sightings confirmed my observations of 8 loons on Dec 26th, 2011 while sailing across the same bay early on a foggy morning.  I hope this is the first on many sightings to be reported on wintering loons in Tampa Bay.

Summary of the Gulf of Mexico

This is a photo taken by Susan Walker on the Loon trip and it pretty much summarizes the Gulf of Mexico.
Wetlands: in the foreground are spectacular and is the basis of supplying the richness of marine life that we all enjoy and feeds us fresh seafood everyday.  The existing delta is spectacular but disappearing.
Wildlife: You have to look for wild animals but they are there. If you look closely at this photo you will see 3 white ibis sitting on the barbed wire fence.  The loons are difficult to find but are spectacular.  Seeing over a thousand birds in one small area in Venice was unforgettable. BUT they were sandwiched in between a marina and this oil facility.
Human Impact: Our human imprint in the Delta is omnipresent. The levees that hold back the Mississippi River so our goods and ships can pass port to port create the only land for people to live on. A small precarious strip of land several hundred feet wide. And even at night in the total darkness of the beautiful bays of the Delta there is the twinkling of the lights out in the Gulf of Mexico that is a continuous-forever-as far as the eye can see, a sea of the oil rigs. Thousands of them helping me drive home to Tampa with my memories of the Loons of the Mississippi Delta.

For you birders here is our list for today, March 31st

Here is our bird count for Venice, LA on the delta freshwater marsh just a few miles from the open Gulf of Mexico. 58 different birds observed and over 800 individuals actually observed but there were well over1000 birds in the area that were not countable. If you are curious about what any of these look like, just google photos of and then fill in the name of the bird and you will get a perfect picture:
Anhinga 61
Gull Billed Tern 1
Morning Dove 5
Northern Harrier Hawk 1
 Savannah Sparrow 2
Loggerhead Shriek 1
Yellow rumped Warbler 3
Black Ducks 2
Laughing Gulls TMC Too Many to Count counted 130
Tricolor Heron 11
Boat Tailed Grackle  74
Glossy Ibis 48
White Ibis   32
Double crested Comorant 18
Osprey (Fish Hawk) 19
Snowy Egret 35
Willette  27
Forstor Tern 9
Ringbillled Gull 8
European Starling 38
Turkey vulture  7
Purple Martin 1
American Kestrel 1
Eastern King Bird 4
Killdeer  3
Moore Hen 36
Great Egret 29  breeding plumage
American Coot 41
Chipping Sparrow 4
Brown Pelican 2
Greater Yellow Legs 3
Black Stilt 2  My favorite
Pied  Billed Grebe 12
Cardinal 1
Yellow Crowned Night Heron 45
Roseatte Spoonbill 50
Great Blue Heron 5
Cattle Egret 4
Black Bellied Whistling Duck 2
Black crowned Night Heron 31
Brewers Black Bird 5
Least Bitterns 2
Marsh Sparrow 3
Little Blue Heron 6
Tri colored black bird 1
American Crow 4
Palm Warbler 1
Bronze Cow Bird 13
Mockingbird 1
Brown Cow Bird 10
Kingfisher 1
Red Tailed Hawk 1
Green Heron 1
And a Great Horned Owl and nest 1

Birds of the Last Day

OK this is my favorite bird, Black Stilt about 12 inches tall. Next blog shows all the birds we saw in one  hour period.