Change of pace (and wind speed)

I have just six sleeps left until I am back in my own bed and really only 4 days of birding (and 2 of driving). The week before I left, I decided to spend a full day at Fort DeSoto in St. Petersburg. Unfortunately that day yielded no new life birds -- partly because I couldn't walk in the 25-35mph winds. I did see lots of birds and got 4 new Florida birds.

Also yesterday I (albeit it briefly) cracked the Top 100 for Florida in 2023.

I share that 91th place ranking with @7 other birders. I suspect my new birds will move me up a bit, but within a few days after I leave, I will drop into oblivion again.

Here are some of the birds who braved the wind today at Fort DeSoto.

American White Pelicans

Royal Tern

Laughing Gull with crazy feet???

Osprey

Semipalmated Plover

Wilson's Plover

Willet

Least Sandpiper

Black-bellied Plover

Short-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's Plover

Sanderling

Ruddy Turnstone

Don't worry I have some time to go back in the morning when the winds are supposed to calm down. I also checked a local duck pond and finally got my photos of the Nanday Parakeet.

Mostly Redheads

Lesser Scaup

Nanaday Parakeet