400+birder
Well-known member
Hi. I am new to the forum. I saw a bird in Florida, in 2010 with my son, that I am still trying to ID. I figured to ask for help here because it's a large Forum and hopefully there are birders from the US.
We were at Manatee Springs State Park, in Florida, in the month of July. This park is on the Suwanee River. We took the trip to Florida to bond and to bird. My son loves birding to this day. At one point, we saw a large group of Swallow-Tailed Kites work their way down the river. Just awesome. We were also seeing many sturgeon jumping out of the water.
So then we saw a vividly black and white bird flying along the river on the far side, from right to left (South). As an experienced birder (life list 400+, birded from Alaska to Guatemala, and a trained National Marine Fisheries Marine Mammal Observer), I thought it was a loon. A long slender bird, flashing black and white, flying with rapid wingbeats, maybe 10-20 feet over the water. No gliding, no change of direction. My son and I saw this for as much as 20 seconds. The distance, as checked on Google Earth, is about 400 feet. The weather was bright sun.
The problem is, there are not supposed to be loons there in July. Even unusual storms and weather patters go opposite to causing such a thing. Can anyone help ID this?
We were at Manatee Springs State Park, in Florida, in the month of July. This park is on the Suwanee River. We took the trip to Florida to bond and to bird. My son loves birding to this day. At one point, we saw a large group of Swallow-Tailed Kites work their way down the river. Just awesome. We were also seeing many sturgeon jumping out of the water.
So then we saw a vividly black and white bird flying along the river on the far side, from right to left (South). As an experienced birder (life list 400+, birded from Alaska to Guatemala, and a trained National Marine Fisheries Marine Mammal Observer), I thought it was a loon. A long slender bird, flashing black and white, flying with rapid wingbeats, maybe 10-20 feet over the water. No gliding, no change of direction. My son and I saw this for as much as 20 seconds. The distance, as checked on Google Earth, is about 400 feet. The weather was bright sun.
The problem is, there are not supposed to be loons there in July. Even unusual storms and weather patters go opposite to causing such a thing. Can anyone help ID this?