Date: 6/29/26 1:35 pm From: 'csmayer' via NFLbirds <nflbirds...> Subject: RE: [NFLbirds] Stolen camera help Ernesto Reyes
Thank you for letting us know about the unfortunate event that left Ernesto without his camera. I'm so sorry that this happened & I hope someone saw something & will or has reported it. In the meantime, I suggest that you set up a Go Fund me page to help get his camera replaced, assuming that it was not insured. I would be happy to donate to such a page. 😊Sent from my Galaxy
-------- Original message --------From: 'eliza hawkins' via NFLbirds <nflbirds...> Date: 6/29/26 3:56 PM (GMT-05:00) To: <nflbirds...> Subject: [NFLbirds] Stolen camera help Ernesto Reyes Show imagesIf this not appropriate for nfbirds, please ignore. Ernesto was here in Tallahassee a couple weeks ago doing a presentation on Columbian birds for Appalachee Audubon.   Our friend Ernesto was recently showing friends from Alaska some of Cuba’s great natural resources. They went to Zapata in search of the elusive Zapata Wren. While in the remote area his camera & lens was stolen. I offered to help him raise funds to replace his gear. He was at first hesitant since such an expense seems excessive with what other folks in Cuba are experiencing.  Ernesto without his camera is like black beans with rice.And…..they didn’t see the wren. ThanksSandyhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ernesto-replace-stolen-conservation-gearYahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer
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Date: 6/29/26 12:56 pm From: 'eliza hawkins' via NFLbirds <nflbirds...> Subject: [NFLbirds] Stolen camera help Ernesto Reyes
Show images
If this not appropriate for nfbirds, please ignore. Ernesto was here in Tallahassee a couple weeks ago doing a presentation on Columbian birds for Appalachee Audubon.  Â
Our friend Ernesto was recently showing friends from Alaska some of Cuba’s great natural resources. They went to Zapata in search of the elusive Zapata Wren. While in the remote area his camera & lens was stolen. I offered to help him raise funds to replace his gear. He was at first hesitant since such an expense seems excessive with what other folks in Cuba are experiencing.  Ernesto without his camera is like black beans with rice.
Date: 6/28/26 8:10 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: [NFLbirds] Mid-Summer at SMNWR
The cabbage palms are beginning to bloom at St. Marks NWR and pine hibiscus
blossoms now dot the low wetlands. In the predawn darkness, frogs are
calling in the marshes, but up in the flatwoods, where fireflies are
flashing in the night, the Chuck-wills-widows have mostly gone quiet. It’s
mid-summer at the refuge and sometimes already eighty degrees at sunrise.
It won’t be getting cooler anytime soon.
We are at a tipping point in the refuge year. It is a gray area between
the tail end of Spring migration and the first slow start to Fall
migration. In truth, the two sometimes overlap. It is also the annual low
point for bird diversity when there may only be 120 species on the refuge
and without large flocks of wintering birds, it’s also the annual low point
for bird numbers. However, things are about to change.
Our summer resident species are generally single-brooded and are finishing
up their breeding cycle. Everywhere you look you can see evidence of this.
Morning bird song has diminished. Parula warblers are feeding young at the
Double Bridges. Territorial behavior is breaking down as species finish
nesting and disperse. Chimney Swifts and Purple Martins are showing up in
the refuge skies as they fatten up before migrating. I have already seen
one large post-breeding flock of Mississippi & Swallow-tailed Kites at the
refuge. The temperature may not reflect it, but Fall migration is beginning.
The refuge’s shorebird population also hits its low point in late June.
There are five breeding species found at the refuge: Willet, Wilson’s
Plover, American Oystercatcher, Black-necked Stilt and Killdeer. Most have
finished nesting. The Killdeer started early and are already flocked up on
the edge of Stony Bayou near Lighthouse Road. There are still, however, a
few stilt nests on Mounds Pool 3, where newly fledged Wilson’s Plovers are
running across the sand flats.
Yearling birds of some shorebird species don’t migrate and the refuge has
had a good number of Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater Yellowlegs,
Black-bellied Plovers and Semipalmated Plovers oversummering here this
year. These birds stay in their first winter plumage until their second
Spring, when they molt into breeding plumage and begin their first
northbound migration.
The first few Fall migrant shorebirds have arrived at the refuge. I’ve
seen small flocks of Marbled Godwits and Whimbrels, two species that often
show up in late June. Among the Short-billed Dowitchers and Black-bellied
Plovers I’ve seen single birds in breeding plumage, indicating that they
have returned from their breeding grounds. I also recently found a Wilson’s
Phalarope feeding with stilts and yellowlegs.
There’s a lot of summer left to go, but as the weeks progress, the refuge
will see an increasing number of migrant birds. More shorebird species will
appear; Least Sandpipers, western Willets and Ruddy Turnstones. By the end
of July, we’ll start seeing the first migrant warblers. I always watch for
Yellow Warblers in cabbage palms. Then, sometime in August, the first Bald
Eagles and Blue-winged Teal will arrive.
There is no denying that it is miserably hot. However, if you get up early
and come down to the refuge, there’s a lot going on.
Date: 6/22/26 7:19 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: Re: [NFLbirds] Odd Duck
I had tried something similar, but found that AI was conflating different
species of whistling ducks and, when I pushed AI to provide specific
references or citations, AI could only reference a captive study in South
America, possibly Brazil, that I could not track down. Using AI, I could
find no scientific paper or even popular press article that referenced
BBWDs eating tree fruit.
Don Morrow
<donaldcmorrow...> <donaldcmorow...>
Tallahassee, FL
On Mon, Jun 22, 2026 at 9:44 AM Dena Temple <denatemple...> wrote:
> I asked Google AI your question. Here is the reply:
>
> Black-bellied whistling ducks are highly opportunistic omnivores. While
> their staple diet consists of grasses, aquatic vegetation, and grains, they
> also regularly consume available fruits, berries, and even agricultural
> crops.
>
> On Sun, Jun 21, 2026 at 10:05 AM Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...>
> wrote:
>
>> I was walking along a road at the Alford Greenway, this morning, when I
>> noticed black cherries on the ground and looked up to see if any birds were
>> feeding on the cherries.
>>
>> There was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck sitting in the cherry tree.
>>
>> This tree was on the Northern edge of a large field. Lake Piney Z, where
>> any self-respecting whistling duck would be feeding, was about a quarter
>> mile to the South. The closely related West Indian Whistling Duck eats a
>> lot of tree fruit and I found one reference to BBWDs eating tree fruit in
>> South America, but every other reference that I find has them foraging for
>> seeds in marshes and agricultural fields, which is where I typically see
>> them feeding.
>>
>> I watched this duck for twenty minutes and it did not try to feed on the
>> ripe black cherries. However, I often find that birds are reticent to feed
>> after they have been noticed and I had been twenty feet from this bird when
>> I first noticed it. BBWDs are cavity nesters, but this tree was not big
>> enough for a cavity and it was a long way from the water.
>>
>> Has anybody ever noticed BBWDs eating tree fruits?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
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>> "NFLbirds" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to nflbirds+<unsubscribe...>
>> To view this discussion visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nflbirds/<96e3b09c-0a9f-4e19-8fa1-5dba74614a93n...> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nflbirds/<96e3b09c-0a9f-4e19-8fa1-5dba74614a93n...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> .
>>
>
Date: 6/22/26 6:45 am From: Dena Temple <denatemple...> Subject: Re: [NFLbirds] Odd Duck
I asked Google AI your question. Here is the reply:
Black-bellied whistling ducks are highly opportunistic omnivores. While
their staple diet consists of grasses, aquatic vegetation, and grains, they
also regularly consume available fruits, berries, and even agricultural
crops.
On Sun, Jun 21, 2026 at 10:05 AM Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> wrote:
> I was walking along a road at the Alford Greenway, this morning, when I
> noticed black cherries on the ground and looked up to see if any birds were
> feeding on the cherries.
>
> There was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck sitting in the cherry tree.
>
> This tree was on the Northern edge of a large field. Lake Piney Z, where
> any self-respecting whistling duck would be feeding, was about a quarter
> mile to the South. The closely related West Indian Whistling Duck eats a
> lot of tree fruit and I found one reference to BBWDs eating tree fruit in
> South America, but every other reference that I find has them foraging for
> seeds in marshes and agricultural fields, which is where I typically see
> them feeding.
>
> I watched this duck for twenty minutes and it did not try to feed on the
> ripe black cherries. However, I often find that birds are reticent to feed
> after they have been noticed and I had been twenty feet from this bird when
> I first noticed it. BBWDs are cavity nesters, but this tree was not big
> enough for a cavity and it was a long way from the water.
>
> Has anybody ever noticed BBWDs eating tree fruits?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "NFLbirds" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to nflbirds+<unsubscribe...>
> To view this discussion visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nflbirds/<96e3b09c-0a9f-4e19-8fa1-5dba74614a93n...> > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/nflbirds/<96e3b09c-0a9f-4e19-8fa1-5dba74614a93n...>?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > .
>
Date: 6/21/26 7:05 am From: Don Morrow <donaldcmorrow...> Subject: [NFLbirds] Odd Duck
I was walking along a road at the Alford Greenway, this morning, when I noticed black cherries on the ground and looked up to see if any birds were feeding on the cherries.
There was a Black-bellied Whistling Duck sitting in the cherry tree.
This tree was on the Northern edge of a large field. Lake Piney Z, where any self-respecting whistling duck would be feeding, was about a quarter mile to the South. The closely related West Indian Whistling Duck eats a lot of tree fruit and I found one reference to BBWDs eating tree fruit in South America, but every other reference that I find has them foraging for seeds in marshes and agricultural fields, which is where I typically see them feeding.
I watched this duck for twenty minutes and it did not try to feed on the ripe black cherries. However, I often find that birds are reticent to feed after they have been noticed and I had been twenty feet from this bird when I first noticed it. BBWDs are cavity nesters, but this tree was not big enough for a cavity and it was a long way from the water.
Has anybody ever noticed BBWDs eating tree fruits?
