Jan 9 - FL Gulf Coast 'keets

On Jan 9th I took a midday ride north from Ft. Myers with Dori Sosensky and Lynn James in search of two established ABA-countable parakeets, both of which were easy to find.

Our first stop was Hernando Beach, north of the Tampa area, in search of Budgerigar. We found a flock of about eight birds on Gulf Winds Circle without much trouble. The Budgie numbers have really dropped off in FL, so it may not be on my list for long...

Budgerigar
We really worked up an appetite by hardly working for those Budgies, so we headed back south for a sushi lunch which just so happened to be in the heart of Nanday Parakeet country at St. Pete Beach. Just before we reached the Basil Leaf Sushi & Thai, a flock of about 15 Nandays flew by. Didn't even have to try! A few more birds flew past the restaurant window as we were eating. After lunch (which was delicious, by the way) we drove backroads near the restaurant and quickly came across four more parakeets.



Nanday Parakeets
Not exactly a dream day of birding with the exotics and all, but those Nandays are truly handsome birds and provided better looks than my life birds in Brazil a couple years ago!

sunset at Tampa Bay with thousands of birds (mostly terns and gulls) feeding in the distance
 - NB

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