I had the following participants for this tour: Tom & Mary Newhouse from Buena Park, CA., Bill Heady from House Springs, MO., John Van Niel from Seneca Falls, NY, Curtis & Michelle Manly from Alberta, Cananda, Jim Berry from Gunnison, CO., Floyd & Joanne Downs from Woosten, OH. and Jack Milchanowski from FT. Worth, TX.

April 13, day one.

It was a little windy on the way over to the Dry Tortugas, but the wind was out of the east.  This gave us followings seas for a good ride over.  Here is a list of what was seen this first day.
 
 

MASKED BOOBY	Royal Tern
BROWN BOOBY	Sandwich Tern
Northern Gannet	ROSEATE TERN
Brown Pelican	BRIDLED TERN
Double-crested Cormorant	SOOTY TERN
Magnificent Frigatebird	Black Tern
Great Blue Heron	BROWN NODDY
Great Egret	Mourning Dove
Roseate Spoonbill	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Osprey	Common Nighthawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk	CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW
American Kestrel	Purple Martin
Merlin	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Peregrine Falcon	Cliff Swallow
Black-bellied Plover	Barn Swallow
American Golden-Plover	BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO
Willet	Northern Parula
Ruddy Turnstone	Cape May Warbler
Sanderling	Yellow-rumped Warbler
POMARINE JAEGER	Prairie Warbler
Laughing Gull	Palm Warbler
Ring-billed Gull	American Redstart
Herring Gull	Indigo Bunting
Great Black-backed Gull

April 29-30, day two and three.

The following birds below were seen day two and three including a lifer for me!!  Sabine's Gull, not only a lifer but a great bird to see in Florida.  We saw these birds at Garden Key, Loggerhead Key and the journey back to Key West.
 
 

MASKED BOOBY	Eurasian Collared-Dove
BROWN BOOBY	Mourning Dove
Brown Pelican	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Double Cormorant	Burrowing Owl
Magnificent Frigatebird	Common Nighthawk
Great Egret	ANTILLEAN NIGHTHAWK
Cattle Egret	CHUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW
Yellow-crowned Night Heron	Belted Kingfisher
Osprey	TROPICAL / COUCH'S KINGBIRD (it never called, can't be sure which one that it was.)
Sharp-shinned Hawk	GRAY KINGBIRD
American Kestrel	Tree Swallow
Merlin	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Peregrine Falcon	Barn Swallow
Black-bellied Plover	Gray-cheeked Thrush
American Golden Plover	Gray Catbird
Willet	Northern Mockingbird
Ruddy Turnstone	BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO
Sanderling	Northern Parula
Laughing Gull	Cape May Warbler
Ring-billed Gull	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Herring Gull	Yellow-throated Warbler
Great Black-backed Gull	Prairie Warbler
SABINE'S GULL (lifer for me!)	Palm Warbler
Royal Tern	American Redstart
SOOTY TERN	Common Yellowthroat
BROWN NODDY	Indigo Bunting

We had 63 species seen for this tour.

Click here for 2002 Dry Tortugas Tours.

I had the following participants for this tour:  W.D & Vera Leip form Lake Ozark MO, Jim & Frances Ward from Oriental, North Carolina, Charlie Ewell & Arlyne Salcedo from Cape Coral, Florida and June Riley form Dania, Florida.

April 16, day one.

We had the following species on our journey to the Dry Tortugas and around Ft. Jefferson.
 

AUDUBON'S SHEARWATER	SOOTY TERN
MASKED BOOBY	BROWN NODDY
BROWN BOOBY	White-winged Dove
Northern Gannet	Mourning Dove
Brown Pelican	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Double-crested Cormorant	Nighthawk species
Magnificent Frigatebird	Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Great Egret	GRAY KINGBIRD
Cattle Egret	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Green Heron	Cliff Swallow
Osprey	Cave Swallow
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Barn Swallow
American Kestrel	Gray Catbird
Merlin	BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO
Black-bellied Plover	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Lesser Yellowlegs	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Willet	Prairie Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone	Palm Warbler
Sanderling	Black-and-white Warbler
Least Sandpiper	American Redstart
POMARINE JAEGER	Worm-eating Warbler
Laughing Gull	Ovenbird
Herring Gull	Common Yellowthroat
Great Black-backed Gull	WILSON'S WARBLER
Royal Tern	Rose-breasted Grosbeak
ROSEATE TERN	Indigo Bunting
BRIDLED TERN	Bobolink

April 17, day two.

At daybreak we birded around Ft. Jefferson.  We then went over to Loggerhead Key and birded for about 3 hours and finished the day at the fort.  We saw the following species below.
 
 

MASKED BOOBY	Eastern Kingbird
BROWN BOOBY	GRAY KINGBIRD
Brown Pelican	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Double-crested Cormorant	Cliff Swallow
Magnificent Frigatebird	Barn Swallow
Great Egret	Gray Catbird
Cattle Egret	BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO
Osprey	Northern Parula
Northern Harrier	Cape May Warbler
American Kestrel	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Merlin	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Peregrine Falcon	Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-bellied Plover	Yellow-throated Warbler
AMERICAN GOLEDN-PLOVER	Prairie Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone	Palm Warbler
Least Sandpiper	Blackpoll Warbler
Laughing Gull	Black-and-white Warbler
Herring Gull	American Redstart
Royal Tern	Prothonotary Warbler
SOOTY TERN	Worm-eating Warbler
BROWN NODDY	Ovenbird
White-winged Dove	Northern Waterthrush
Mourning Dove	Common Yellowthroat
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	Indigo Bunting
SHORT-EARED OWL	Savannah Sparrow
Common Nighthawk	Bobolink
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

April 18, day three.

We had the following species at Ft. Jefferson and on our journey back to Key West.
 
 

Northern Gannet	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Brown Pelican	Common Nighthawk
Double-crested Cormorant	Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Magnificent Frigatebird	Purple Martin
Great Blue Heron	Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cattle Egret	Cliff Swallow
Osprey	Barn Swallow
American Kestrel	Tennessee Warbler
Peregrine Falcon	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-bellied Plover	Prairie Warbler
Lesser Yellowlegs	Palm Warbler
Willet	Blackpoll Warbler
Laughing Gull	American Redstart
Lesser Black-backed Gull	Ovenbird
Royal Tern	Summer Tanager
SOOTY TERN	Indigo Bunting
BROWN NODDY	Bobolink
White-winged Dove	Orchard Oriole
Mourning Dove

Click here for 2002 Dry Tortugas dates.
 

I had the following participants for this tour:  Grady & Lu Skillern from Anahuac TX., Jim Thayer from Tulsa OK., Je Anne Strott from Henderson, NV., Rita Schlageter from Las Vegas, NV.,  Cherl Amato from Everett, MA., Hugh Hawkins from Las Vegas, NV., Huston Shoopman from Henderson, NV., Larry Albright from Winter Haven, FL., Bob Snow from Lakeland, FL. and LeRoy Sowl form Bettendorf, Iowa.  This was a very windy year with rough seas on most of my tours.  The winds were out of the east for most of the month of April.  This kept the number of migrants low, we had mostly West Indies migrants rather then the central flyway birds.

April 28, day one.

Windy weather out of the east gave us following seas, this made the journey over to Fort Jefferson enjoyable.  Below is a list of birds seen.
 
 

BROWN BOOBY	Mourning Dove
Northern Gannet	Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Brown Pelican	nighthawk species
Double-crested Cormorant	Chimney Swift
Magnificent Frigatebird	Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Great Egret	GRAY KINGBIRD
Cattle Egret	Barn Swallow
Osprey	Veery
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Gray Catbird
American Kestrel	Red-eyed Vireo
Merlin	Northern Parula
Peregrine Falcon	Cape May Warbler
Black-bellied Plover	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Semipalmated Plover	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Willet	Prairie Warbler
Spotted Sandpiper	Palm Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone	Blackpoll Warbler
Semipalmated Sandpiper	Black-and-white Warbler
Western Sandpiper	American Redstart
Least Sandpiper	Ovenbird
POMARINE JAEGER	Northern Waterthrush
Laughing Gull	Common Yellowthroat
Herring Gull	Hooded Warbler
Great Black-backed Gull	Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Royal Tern	Indigo Bunting
BRIDLED TERN	White-crowned Sparrow (a Dry Tortugas first for me.)
SOOTY TERN	Bobolink
BROWN NODDY

April 29, day two.

Today we birded Garden Key first thing in the morning and then left to bird Loggerhead Key.  We stayed on Loggerhead Key for about two hours and then returned for the rest of the day at Garden Key.  We had the saw the following species below.
 
 

MASKED BOOBY	Eastern Kingbird
BROWN BOOBY	GRAY KINGBIRD
Northern Gannet	Purple Martin
Brown Pelican	Barn Swallow
Double-crested Cormorant	Veery
Magnificent Frigatebird	Gray Catbird
Great Egret	Red-eyed Vireo
Cattle Egret	BLACK-WHISKERED VIREO
Green Heron	Blue-winged Warbler
Glossy Ibis	Tennessee Warbler
Osprey	Northern Parula
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Yellow Warbler
American Kestrel	Magnolia Warbler
Merlin	Cape May Warbler
Peregrine Falcon	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-bellied Plover	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Semipalmated Plover	Yellow-throated Warbler
Solitary Sandpiper	Prairie Warbler
Willet	Palm Warbler
Spotted Sandpiper	Blackpoll Warbler
Ruddy Turnstone	Black-and-white Warbler
Least Sandpiper	American Redstart
POMARINE JAEGER	Worm-eating Warbler
Laughing Gull	Ovenbird
Herring Gull	Northern Waterthrush
Great Black-backed Gull	Common Yellowthroat
Royal Tern	Rose-breasted Grosbeak
ROSEATE TERN	Indigo Bunting
SOOTY TERN	Painted Bunting
BROWN NODDY	White-crowned Sparrow
Mourning Dove	Boblink
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	SHINY COWBIRD
Chuck-will's-widow	Baltimore Oriole
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

 April 30, day three.

We birded Garden Key in the morning before our departure for Key West.  We left at 9 a.m. and arrived in Key West by 4 p.m.  It was a rough trip going back which prevented us for looking in deeper water for pelagic birds.  We saw the following species below.
 
 

BROWN BOOBY	SOOTY TERN
Northern Gannet	BROWN NODDY
Brown Pelican	Mourning Dove
Double-crested Cormorant	Chuck-will's-widow
Magnificent Frigatebird	Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Great Egret	Barn Swallow
Cattle Egret	Veery
Glossy Ibis	Gray Catbird
Osprey	Red-eyed Vireo
Sharp-shinned Hawk	Northern Parula
American Kestrel	Cape May Warbler
Merlin	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Peregrine Falcon	Prairie Warbler
Black-bellied Plover	Palm Warbler
Semipalmated Plover	Blackpoll Warbler
Willet	Black-and-white Warbler
Spotted Sandpiper	American Redstart
Ruddy Turnstone	Ovenbird
Least Sandpiper	Northern Waterthrush
POMARINE JAEGER	Common Yellowthroat
Laughing Gull	Indigo Bunting
Herring Gull	Painted Bunting
Great Black-backed Gull	Bobolink
Royal Tern

We had a total of 73 species for this tour including 19 species of warbler.

Click here for 2002 Dry Tortugas Tours.