Worm-eating Warbler Migrant, cool bird!

Just saw this Worm-eating Warbler migrant on Sanibel Island, FL. It eats mainly caterpillars "worms" from dead leaves during wintering and from live foliage during breeding. It breeds in the East in forests with dense shrubby understory and nests on the ground. It is a more unusual migrant here, we do not see many of them, so seeing this one was very special.

Cerulean Warbler, Sanibel, FL a Wow MIgrant!

Cerulean Warbler, male, migrant on Sanibel Island this afternoon. I was lucky to get any photos as this is a treetop warbler.

He stayed high in the trees and mostly this is the view birders got.

Or this view of the underside.

Cerulean Warblers are not commonly seen here on Sanibel. They winter in South America, so this bird had flown quite some distance. They breed mainly in the middle of the eastern part of the U.S. in tall deciduous trees with open understory, eating insects they glean from leaves. Ceruleans are a species of high concern in the East, due to its small population size. It is being considered for becoming listed as an Endangered Species. We feel lucky to have seen it.

Razorbill Invasion of Florida Photos 12/23/12

Razorbill at Sanibel Island lighthouse beach today.

One came close to shore

Here you can see the back legs.

When they feed, they open their wings

and lunge forward and down.

Their wings propel them

underwater and they go really fast, like flying underwater, chasing mall fish, their main food.

In addition to the Razorbills, we saw this Horned Grebe.

Here are some photos I took today at Sanibel Island, FL, from the beach by the lighthouse. We saw 10 Razorbills from there and I was lucky that a few came near shore to feed, one as close as 20 feet from me. They were doing a lot of feeding and it was interesting to watch them dive for fish. They spread their wings, then dive down, zipping very fast underwater. Their main food is small fish. The Razorbill invasion of Florida is historic, with numbers never before seen here. There could potentially be thousands in Florida waters, all along the coasts. 

Razorbills Invasion of Florida Keeps Coming!

Razorbill

Razorbill group. Sometimes they are far offshore, as we viewed them 2 days ago on Sanibel Island at Blind Pass.

The Razorbills keep coming down into Florida and the invasion is growing. 34 were just seen off Anna Maria Island on the Gulf Coast. We keep seeing them off Blind Pass on Sanibel Island. On Dec. 23rd. we saw 10 Razorbills off Sanibel Island at the lighthouse. A few swam close to shore.

It is thought perhaps unusually warm ocean waters in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic in Razorbills traditional winter range may have dispersed the fish there, so the Razorbills must continue south in search of food. See article on ebird.org.

Razorbills, Gulf Coast of FL on Sanibel & Captiva

Razorbill, 1st winter plumage

Razorbill, winter plumage, off Sanibel Island, FL,  today. There's a Razorbill invasion of Florida going on with potentially thousands there.

One of the Razorbills, off Captiva Island, FL,  today. 

Here's a video of the Razorbill

Here's a Razorbill in summer plumage, for comparison, I photographed at Machias Seal Island, ME.

Here's another photo of the Sanibel Razorbill.

It mostly just sat on the water, but did stretch its wings.

We immediately posted our sighting of the Razorbill at Gulfside City Park, on the SWFLBirdline listserve, and several other birders came right out to see it. Don showed them the Razorbill through our scope. 

The Razorbill on Sanibel was rather far off shore but viewable with binos, and nice views through a scope. This is the view through the camera I was while standing on shore. Orange arrow points to bird. I zoomed way, way out, 140x to take the photos with the Canon SX 40, so excuse the quality of the photos.

There is a Razorbill invasion of Florida happening and today we saw 3 Razorbills off of Sanibel and Captiva, on the Gulf Coast of Florida. One Razorbill was off Gulfside City Park on Sanibel Island and we saw that about 3 pm. We watched for about an hour then went to Captiva Island and located the other two which where near the breakwater at Blind Pass. One was resting on the water, the other was feeding by diving near a large group of Pelicans. No one knows why thousands of Razorbills are coming to FL, as they usually winter in the Northeast down to the Carolinas, rarely to GA. After searching all morning, with no sucess at Bunche Beach in Ft. Myers where one had been seen two days ago, we finally located these three. Sweet! If you are in Florida and see Razorbills, report them to your nearest birding listserve and also ebird.org.
Make sure and send your record to the Florida Ornithological Society by filling out their FOS Bird Records Species Documentation form located here.