Flamingo Surprise
Photographer: Matt Bruce
click to view full-screen
My wife and I visited Everglades National Park in October of last year and were treated to an incredible surprise while kayaking in a remote section of the park: a flock of 49 American Flamingos! These birds used to be seen in South Florida by the thousands prior to about the year 1900, but the plume trade and habitat degradation led to the eradication of the species in Florida, save for a spattering of transient records here and there. However, in August of 2023 hurricane Idalia passed between Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula where migrating American Flamingos got swept up in the storm. Idalia continued northeast to make landfall in Florida. Then continued across the Southeast before moving out to sea near the southern border of North Carolina. As the storm moved it deposited flamingos. In the days and weeks following the storm, these displaced birds were spotted in 18 states throughout the East and the Midwest! As time went on most of these birds made their way south but a few nomadic flocks remain along the Gulf Coast. In fact, a survey conducted in February of last year counted 101 flamingos in Florida. It’s wild to think we stumbled across almost half the state’s population.
1/500 • f/7.1 • ISO 1000 • Canon R6 Mark II • 223mm • Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1
