How many of you are bird watchers?

[Shane]

spoonbills are a major target bird for me :-D

I hope you get to see some!

I believe they're residents, though it's hard to know for sure since most range maps available for spoonbills are pretty inaccurate, showing their northern limits in a diagonal line that cuts right through Lake Okeechobee. But they're definitely found much further north than that.

[DinoFan2010]

I live in Georgia, so common birds for me are vultures, Brown thrashers, cardinals, blackbirds, hummingbirds, and even the occasional bluejay!

[Gwangi]

spoonbills are a major target bird for me :-D

I hope you get to see some!

I believe they're residents, though it's hard to know for sure since most range maps available for spoonbills are pretty inaccurate, showing their northern limits in a diagonal line that cuts right through Lake Okeechobee. But they're definitely found much further north than that.

There were four spoonbills that spent the summer in Delaware a few years ago, they ended up being my lifers. They didn't stay and breed but yeah, they can definitely be found further north.

[Shane]

spoonbills are a major target bird for me :-D

I hope you get to see some!

I believe they're residents, though it's hard to know for sure since most range maps available for spoonbills are pretty inaccurate, showing their northern limits in a diagonal line that cuts right through Lake Okeechobee. But they're definitely found much further north than that.

There were four spoonbills that spent the summer in Delaware a few years ago, they ended up being my lifers. They didn't stay and breed but yeah, they can definitely be found further north.

There are lots of reports of spoonbills coming to breed in places like St. Augustine, which is only about 45 mins or so south of Jacksonville. So it's possible they stay here to breed but I can't be sure. I wish the range maps were more up to date!

[bmathison1972]

A birder friend in PA recently documented flamingos up there; apparently driven by Hurricane Idalia.

[Zephyr2007]

eBird is a fantastic resource for planning on what you may see on a day's worth of birding near Jacksonville:

https://ebird.org/region/US-FL-031/media?yr=all&m=

According to this, you should be able to find some Roseate Spoonbills. I have seen spoonbills near Charleston in October, so they definitely do disperse further north than some of the old range maps.

[Gwangi]

A birder friend in PA recently documented flamingos up there; apparently driven by Hurricane Idalia.

I saw that on the news, they're popping up in a bunch of places. Not here though, not yet.

[Halichoeres]

I'm not a bird watcher myself, but my father certainly is. As one of the Netherlands' most renowned ornithologists, he spends more time in the field than at home, unless there's a football match on.
He tried a little too hard in my youth to make his passion mine, which didn't work. But I'm still very interested in animals and love being in nature looking at alll manner of beasties. And I'm very proud my father discovered a species of bird and has another (sub)species named after him.

I've known a few ornithologists, and their kids do tend to get binoculars stapled to their faces at birth...

[Newt]

Re: spoonbills, I visited the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in April. The largest pond at the property has a boardwalk that passes among a number of baldcypress and palmetto trees, and nearly every tree had wading bird nests in it. Spoonbills, wood storks, and several sorts of egrets and herons, many nearly within arm's reach from the boardwalk. Boat-tailed grackles were also plentiful there.

I don't know if the spoonbills hang out there year-round, but the place is well worth visiting for its other archosaurs in any case.

[bmathison1972]

eBird is a fantastic resource for planning on what you may see on a day's worth of birding near Jacksonville:

https://ebird.org/region/US-FL-031/media?yr=all&m=

According to this, you should be able to find some Roseate Spoonbills. I have seen spoonbills near Charleston in October, so they definitely do disperse further north than some of the old range maps.

Yes I use eBird (and record my data there) and always check out local hotspots before I travel. February might not be the right time of the year for the spoonbill, but ya never know!

[Zephyr2007]

I'm not a bird watcher myself, but my father certainly is. As one of the Netherlands' most renowned ornithologists, he spends more time in the field than at home, unless there's a football match on.
He tried a little too hard in my youth to make his passion mine, which didn't work. But I'm still very interested in animals and love being in nature looking at alll manner of beasties. And I'm very proud my father discovered a species of bird and has another (sub)species named after him.

That's really neat! The Netherlands has a dynamic and talented birdwatching community. I helped Arjan Dwarshuis with his global big year when he came through Florida. Do you know which birds your father discovered? I wonder if I have seen it.

I came from the other direction, a family with no inclination towards anything natural. Then, I somehow came along and organically fell in love with everything nature and natural history. My parents kept hoping I would 'grow out of it' for a long time. I worked under Paul Sereno in undergrad at the University of Chicago, switched majors to International Relations as a safer career choice, then swung back around and became a professional birding guide for international tours.

Carlos

[Roselaar]

I'm not a bird watcher myself, but my father certainly is. As one of the Netherlands' most renowned ornithologists, he spends more time in the field than at home, unless there's a football match on.
He tried a little too hard in my youth to make his passion mine, which didn't work. But I'm still very interested in animals and love being in nature looking at alll manner of beasties. And I'm very proud my father discovered a species of bird and has another (sub)species named after him.

That's really neat! The Netherlands has a dynamic and talented birdwatching community. I helped Arjan Dwarshuis with his global big year when he came through Florida. Do you know which birds your father discovered? I wonder if I have seen it.

I came from the other direction, a family with no inclination towards anything natural. Then, I somehow came along and organically fell in love with everything nature and natural history. My parents kept hoping I would 'grow out of it' for a long time. I worked under Paul Sereno in undergrad at the University of Chicago, switched majors to International Relations as a safer career choice, then swung back around and became a professional birding guide for international tours.

Carlos

My father can claim the discovery of Carpodacus Sillemi (previously Leucostycte Sillemi) to his name.
Opposite, Calidris Canutis Roselaari was named after him.

[Gwangi]

I'm not a bird watcher myself, but my father certainly is. As one of the Netherlands' most renowned ornithologists, he spends more time in the field than at home, unless there's a football match on.
He tried a little too hard in my youth to make his passion mine, which didn't work. But I'm still very interested in animals and love being in nature looking at alll manner of beasties. And I'm very proud my father discovered a species of bird and has another (sub)species named after him.

That's really neat! The Netherlands has a dynamic and talented birdwatching community. I helped Arjan Dwarshuis with his global big year when he came through Florida. Do you know which birds your father discovered? I wonder if I have seen it.

I came from the other direction, a family with no inclination towards anything natural. Then, I somehow came along and organically fell in love with everything nature and natural history. My parents kept hoping I would 'grow out of it' for a long time. I worked under Paul Sereno in undergrad at the University of Chicago, switched majors to International Relations as a safer career choice, then swung back around and became a professional birding guide for international tours.

Carlos

My father can claim the discovery of Carpodacus Sillemi (previously Leucostycte Sillemi) to his name.
Opposite, Calidris Canutis Roselaari was named after him.

That is really cool. I'm quite familiar with the red knot as they stop along our coastline during migration to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. It's not the sub-species named after your father though.

[Roselaar]

That is really cool. I'm quite familiar with the red knot as they stop along our coastline during migration to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. It's not the sub-species named after your father though.

Nooo, I think that one is mostly found in Siberia. There's a reason he's never actually seen it for himself.

[Gwangi]

That is really cool. I'm quite familiar with the red knot as they stop along our coastline during migration to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. It's not the sub-species named after your father though.

Nooo, I think that one is mostly found in Siberia. There's a reason he's never actually seen it for himself.

If the range map on Wikipedia is correct then it nests in Alaska and migrates across the United States into South America.

[Halichoeres]

I came from the other direction, a family with no inclination towards anything natural. Then, I somehow came along and organically fell in love with everything nature and natural history. My parents kept hoping I would 'grow out of it' for a long time. I worked under Paul Sereno in undergrad at the University of Chicago, switched majors to International Relations as a safer career choice, then swung back around and became a professional birding guide for international tours.

Carlos

I wonder if we crossed paths. Mike Coates, Dave Jablonski, and Mark Webster were on my dissertation committee at U of C.

[Roselaar]

That is really cool. I'm quite familiar with the red knot as they stop along our coastline during migration to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. It's not the sub-species named after your father though.

Nooo, I think that one is mostly found in Siberia. There's a reason he's never actually seen it for himself.

If the range map on Wikipedia is correct then it nests in Alaska and migrates across the United States into South America.

Haha, shows just what I know about birds...

Still a bit too far away from the Netherlands.

[Zephyr2007]

I wonder if we crossed paths. Mike Coates, Dave Jablonski, and Mark Webster were on my dissertation committee at U of C.

Oh, it is very possible. I walked by Dr. Coates's lab almost daily. I also worked for Robert Ho for a time.

And very cool, Roselaar. I have never been to China, so I have never seen Sillem's Rosefinch. Sounds like quite the rare and localized species!:

https://ebird.org/species/tahmof1

Carlos

[Gwangi]

That is really cool. I'm quite familiar with the red knot as they stop along our coastline during migration to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. It's not the sub-species named after your father though.

Nooo, I think that one is mostly found in Siberia. There's a reason he's never actually seen it for himself.

If the range map on Wikipedia is correct then it nests in Alaska and migrates across the United States into South America.

Haha, shows just what I know about birds...

Still a bit too far away from the Netherlands.

Well, Alaska and Siberia are pretty close together. Too far away for me to see them either!

[bmathison1972]

Birded up City Creek Canyon today. The two most interesting records were the Lewis's Woodpecker (rare vagrant here) and Hermit Thrush (my first personal Utah record).

https://ebird.org/checklist/S154315510