TX - FL Trip ~ February 7, 2010

With the exception of one guy who was apparently having a bad day, I found all of the U.S. Airways employees to be extremely helpful considering the many stranded travelers who weren't very happy. I was among at least 40 other people on 'standby' lists. Philadelphia International finally reopened and, at 2:00 PM, I got on a plane to Philadelphia, arriving about a day-and-a-half later than planned. I was very happy to find that the two feet of snow had been blown off my car by the strong winds, so I did a little shoveling behind it, got in, and drove back home, getting there about the time the Super Bowl started.

It was a very successful trip as I managed to see four 'lifers', five if you include the 'uncountable' Purple Swamphen, among the 96 species. Here's the species list.

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Texas and Florida Trip - February 1-6, 2010

1) Pied-billed Grebe----(Texas)(Florida)
2) Red-footed Booby*----(Florida)
3) Brown Pelican----(Florida)
4) Double-crested Cormorant----(Texas)(Florida)
5) Neotropic Cormorant----(Texas)
6) Anhinga----(Florida)
7) American Bittern----(Florida)
8) Great Blue Heron----(Texas)(Florida)
9) Great Egret----(Texas)(Florida)
10) Snowy Egret----(Texas)(Florida)
11) Little Blue Heron----(Florida)
12) Tricolored Heron----(Florida)
13) Cattle Egret----(Texas)(Florida)
14) Green Heron----(Texas)(Florida)
15) White Ibis----(Florida)
16) Glossy Ibis----(Florida)
17) White-faced Ibis----(Texas)
18) Roseate Spoonbill----(Florida)
19) Wood Stork----(Florida)
20) Mottled Duck----(Florida)
21) Blue-winged Teal----(Florida)
22) Gadwall----(Texas)
23) Ring-necked Duck----(Florida)
24) Hooded Merganser----(Florida)
25) Masked Duck*----(Florida)
26) Black Vulture----(Florida)
27) Turkey Vulture----(Texas)(Florida)
28) Osprey----(Texas)(Florida)
29) Bald Eagle----(Florida)
30) Northern Harrier----(Texas)(Florida)
31) Sharp-shinned Hawk----(Texas)
32) Cooper's Hawk----(Texas)(Florida)
33) Red-shouldered Hawk----(Texas)(Florida)
34) White-tailed Hawk----(Texas)
35) Red-tailed Hawk----(Texas)
36) Crested Caracara----(Texas)
37) American Kestrel----(Texas)(Florida)
38) Plain Chachalaca----(Texas)
39) Purple Gallinule----(Florida)
40) Common Moorhen----(Florida)
41) American Coot----(Texas)(Florida)
42) Purple Swamphen*----(Florida)
43) Sandhill Crane----(Florida)
44) Limpkin----(Florida)
45) Killdeer----(Florida)
46) Black-necked Stilt----(Texas)
47) Greater Yellowlegs----(Texas)
48) Lesser Yellowlegs----(Texas)
49) Spotted Sandpiper----(Texas)
50) Least Sandpiper----(Texas)(Florida)
51) Laughing Gull----(Florida)
52) Ring-billed Gull----(Texas)(Florida)
53) Great Black-backed Gull----(Florida)
54) Caspian Tern----(Florida)
55) Rock Dove----(Texas)(Florida)
56) Eurasian Collared-Dove----(Florida)
57) White-winged Dove----(Texas)(Florida)
58) Mourning Dove----(Texas)(Florida)
59) Inca Dove----(Texas)
60) Monk Parakeet----(Florida)
61) Buff-bellied Hummingbird----(Texas)
62) Amazon Kingfisher*----(Texas)
63) Ringed Kingfisher----(Texas)
64) Belted Kingfisher----(Florida)
65) Green Kingfisher----(Texas)
66) Golden-fronted Woodpecker----(Texas)
67) Pileated Woodpecker----(Florida)
68) La Sagra's Flycatcher*----(Florida)
69) Black Phoebe----(Texas)
70) Eastern Phoebe----(Texas)(Florida)
71) Great Kiskadee----(Texas)
72) Couch's Kingbird----(Texas)
73) Northern Rough-winged Swallow----(Texas)
74) Blue Jay----(Florida)
75) Fish Crow----(Florida)
76) Ruby-crowned Kinglet----(Texas)
77) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher----(Texas)(Florida)
78) American Robin----(Texas)(Florida)
79) Northern Mockingbird----(Texas)(Florida)
80) Loggerhead Shrike----(Texas)(Florida)
81) European Starling----(Texas)(Florida)
82) Blue-headed Vireo----(Texas)
83) Orange-crowned Warbler----(Texas)
84) Yellow-rumped Warbler----(Texas)
85) Palm Warbler----(Florida)
86) Common Yellowthroat----(Florida)
87) Northern Cardinal----(Texas)(Florida)
88) Painted Bunting----(Florida)
89) Lark Sparrow----(Texas)
90) Lark Bunting----(Texas)
91) Savannah Sparrow----(Florida)
92) Red-winged Blackbird----(Texas)(Florida)
93) Eastern Meadowlark----(Texas)
94) Great-tailed Grackle----(Texas)
95) Boat-tailed Grackle----(Florida)
96) House Sparrow----(Texas)

* Denotes "Life Bird".

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