Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/108313
Sarasota News Leader February 8, 2013 Page 76 and "duck" do not count! Two thousand, sev- The 15 Osprey, particularly when found in en hundred and fifty-five birds were seen (or their established or new nesting sites, conheard) and tallied. firm the health and well-being of the fish in our Gulf waters and Little Sarasota Bay, thus As I have written before, numbers and statistics are a dry, meaningless lot unless a story assuring fisher-folk to consume their "catch accompanies them. I shall highlight a few spe- of the day." cies "checked" in this game of Hide and Seek and explain what they should mean to people and SK's fragile ecosystem and why it is so exciting to be a part of an Audubon CBC: •Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) . . . . . . . . . . 15 •Razorbill (Alca torda) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 •Black Scoter (Melanitta americana) . . . 38 •Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) . 1,240 •Green Heron (Butorides virescens) . . . . . 0 •Eastern Screech-owl (Megascops asio) (That is me!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A Green Heron. File photo The team's documentation of the one Razorbill confirms the mental well being of everyone on Siesta Key. It attests to their sanity and sobriety. It means that people here are not as crazy or drunk as some would believe. You see, beginning in mid-December 2012, people around Florida's coastal areas, starting in Miami-Dade, began reporting seeing "flying Penguins." Well, there is no such thing as a flying Penguin. Nevertheless, more and more sightings poured in and this mass hysteria reached almost epidemic proportions, spreading throughout various Florida counties and