The Dry Tortugas National Park at the end of the Florida Keys is famous as birdwatching destination, especially during spring and fall migration. I had visited two times in the fall, camping for one night, and this time I stayed for two nights. My intuition told me that during the fall birds would follow the funnel shaped state of FLorida and get funnelled into the Florida Keys and finally the Dry Tortugas, and would be seen there in great numbers. In the spring I thought finding the needle of the funnel would be like finding a needle in a haystack, and expected to see far fewer birds. The only advantage, I thought, would be the nesting seabirds, including 4,000 Brown Noddies, 75,000 Sooty Terns, Magnificent Frigatebirds, and Masked Boobies on a nearby islands. Even though the Sooties were there in great numbers, they never come to Garden Key, and could only be identified with a telescope. I found that spring migration is as busy if not busier than fall, and you had the added advantage of seeing the birds in spring plumage. At first the raptors seemeed absent, but a large group of falcons came in on the second day with a cold front. Only the hawks seemed to come in smaller numbers than in the fall, and that is something I've noticed in Florida in general.

My wife and I left with the Fast Cat on April 10th. Tickets are $160/person and camping is $3/person/night. The other boat, the Yankee Freedom, is just a few dollars more and has a large deck for pelagic birdwatching. Overnight parking is another $13/night or you can take your chances in the street. April 10th might be earlier in migration than my other trips on October 15th during fall migration, and that might account for differences in birds seen. For example, for many species the males and females migrate at different times.

A few observations: the number of fish in the snorkelling area seemed much fewer than in past years, and I wonder if this is in part because of the giant protected groupers hanging around the dock. On my first day there some birders managed to fix the fresh water fountain with some scrap rubber pipes and corks. The birds were very happy about this. And I had the chance to see a Merlin crash through the brush at the fountain and cause some feathers to fly, but apparently he got nothing.

The Brown Noddies and Sooty Terns nesting on Bush Key have to be seen to be appreciated. The birds are continuously flying around making noise, and it is hard to believe they can find enough food for all of the effort they appear to exert. The noise continues all through the night. The Noddies can be seen from close at one corner of the island, but the Sooty Terns never come to the main island with the fort, called Garden Key. Some birders were intent on finding a Black Noddy, but did not succeed. Some other birder had talked the tour boat into pausing at Hospital Key, where the Masked Boobies nest, but I didn't ask this of the Fast Cat. I figured we would be too far for photography.

A few birds seen, and probably some others forgotten.

Osprey (1)
Hawks:
1 unidentified

Falcons:
American Kestrels
Merlins
Peregrine (1)

Warbler:
Palm Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Hooded Warbler (males)
Northern Parula
Ovenbird
American Redstart
Worm-eating Warber
Kentucky Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothontary Warbler

Red-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo

Blackbirds:
Orchard Oriole
1 unidentified Orange bird

Thrushes:
Wood Thrush
Swainson's Thrush

Shorebirds: (not many species seen)
Ruddy Turnstone
Brown Noddy
Sooty Tern (seen only through scope on Bush Key)
1 unidentified Tern en route
Laughing Gull

Pelicaniformes:
Brown Pelican
Magnifican Frigatebird
Cattle Egret
Green Heron

Belted Kingfisher

Grey Kingbird

Common Nighthawk

Northern Mockingbird
Grey Catbird

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Summer Tanager (males)

Clay-colored Sparrow

Barn Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Id'ed by other birder)

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (many)

unidentified Dove (Eurasian Collared Dove seen by others)

About a dozen other normal Florida species were seen in the Keys, including the Common Myna, Roseate Spoonbill and Common Ground Dove.