The first places that come to mind when you think of flamingos are probably not Waynesville, Ohio, but rather watering sites in Africa, the Caribbean, or Florida.
After reading about flamingos at Ceasar Creek State Park, close to Dayton, on Facebook, Jacob Roalef decided to go check them out for himself last week. Roalef, who organizes birding trips, told, “I quickly grabbed my gear and told my wife and was out the door.”
Two birds, an adult, and a youngster, were swimming in the lake when he arrived. “The flamingos were just chilling and sleeping in about a foot of water near the shore,” Roalef added. If a gull flew overhead, it would cause them to open their eyes and take a drink of water.
He estimated that the birds lasted until 6 o’clock in the evening when a dog chased them away. Since Hurricane Idalia passed, reports of flamingo sightings have come in from all across the United States, including Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas, Kentucky, and many other areas, according to Jerry Lorenz, the state director of research for Audubon Florida.
He thinks the birds were on their way from Cuba to the Yucatan until the storm rerouted them.
It’s “really surprising” that “if you follow the path of Idalia, it (the sightings) really does kind of fall out to the north and south of that central track,” he said.
Lorenz stated that they are currently reviewing the data and he does not yet have an estimate for the number of birds that migrated north due to the storm.
“We have never seen anything like this,” Lorenz remarked. Some flamingos may arrive after storms, but this is truly unprecedented.
On Treasure Island, close to St. Petersburg, Florida, boat skipper Vinnie Fugett saw a flock of seventeen flamingos enjoying the sand and waves. It was dusk by the time the birds had finished their meal and taken flight.
Even though Fugett has spent his entire life in Florida, he has never seen a flamingo.
Lorenz pleaded with onlookers to give the flamingos plenty of room because they have endured so much.
This is a really stressful time for these birds. No matter how you slice it, they just endured a terrible tragedy,” he added. “So, don’t get close enough to startle them to frighten them or anything else, but enjoy their presence.”
Although flamingos are native to Florida, they were nearly wiped off by the fashion industry’s demand for their striking feathers around the turn of the 20th century.
Flamingo numbers are on the rise globally, but it was long thought that many of the birds in Florida originated in zoos and other escaped exhibits.
Flamingos have been spotted recently by experts who have tracked their migration from Cuba, Yucatan, and the Bahamas.
Flamingos, according to Lorenz, can travel thousands of miles across open sea, so the Ohio birds shouldn’t have any trouble getting back to warmer climes when winter comes.
Together with a team of specialists, he has been trying to improve flamingo habitat in the Everglades and the Florida Keys.
Maybe then they’ll feel safer, and then we’ll have a population again, and tourists will be able to visit South Florida and the Florida Keys to see flamingos in their natural habitats, as he put it.
