Without a doubt, the biggest event occurring during the fall 1992 season was Hurricane Andrew, that tore through South Florida on the morning of 24 August, devastating much of Homestead in southern Dade County. The homes of three FOS members were directly in the path of Andrew, but differed greatly in the amount of damage they sustained. The home of P. William and Susan Smith was virtually untouched, the home of John Ogden suffered some damage, but Betty and Bill Robertson's home was heavily damaged. A caravan of employees from Archbold Biological Station made repeated visits to the Robertson's home, and replaced the roof and windows, and cleaned up the yard. Supplies such as generators were delivered to all three homes to supply electricity for lighting, cooking, and air conditioning.

After Andrew moved west from Homestead, it entered Everglades National Park, destroying the Visitor's Center and boardwalks in the park. In Big Cypress National Preserve, many Red-cockaded Woodpecker cavity trees were broken off at the cavity entrance. The long-term effects of the storm will take years to document, but a report issued by the National Audubon Society (fide Rich Paul) found substantial destruction of native vegetation in many coastal areas of the Everglades, and the northernmost Keys. The effects of this loss of habitat on colonial wading birds, the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, and other species such as the American Crocodile are not yet known.

A die-off of shorebirds in Collier County was noted by Ted Below about two weeks after Andrew, but the birds had been dead about a week when found. About 500 Western Sandpipers were affected, which represents about 5% of the total number of Western Sandpipers in the area. One dead Short-billed Dowitcher was also found, and 1 Black-bellied Plover and 1 Red Knot were collected and sent to Florida State University at Tallahassee for analysis. Results of the necropsies were not yet available, but Ted Below states that the weights of all the birds were "typical of healthy birds." The cause of the die-off is not known.

Exceptional numbers of migrants were noted 15-16 August, 29-30 August, (especially) 1-4 October, and 10-12 October. Large numbers of Peregrine Falcons and other raptors were observed in the Keys 10 October. Many migrants were observed in all-time highest numbers for the state this fall, with the bulk of these record numbers coming from Pinellas County. Lyn Atherton writes, "At dusk on 29 August, we watched over 200 Hooded Warblers, large numbers of Prothonotary and other early migrant warblers stream from the tops of the trees and head SW over the Gulf" from Fort De Soto County Park. ?

There were other significant reports from the fall 1992 season. The latest-ever breeding report for the Black-whiskered Vireo was established in Pinellas County in early September. Snail Kites and Limpkins returned to the Shark Valley area of Everglades National Park by 7 November, presumably signaling an end to the drought (fide Mort Cooper). Groove-billed Anis "invaded" the Panhandle this fall, and 1 bird was as far south as Palm Beach County. Harry Robinson's ocean watch from the beach at New Smyrna Beach 9 November again resulted in many pelagic species, including another spectacular record number of Pomarine Jaegers. Dave Gagne has kept careful reports of shorebirds at Honeymoon Island SRA the past few years, and he noted a decrease in numbers of many shorebirds this year, including Black-bellied Plover, American Oystercatcher, Willet, Dunlin, and Short-billed Dowitcher. Lastly, this report is enhanced by the banding activities of Duncan Evered and Lyla Messick on Dog Island.

A year-long statewide mapping project of the Florida Scrub Jay, sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, is currently underway. This project, undertaken by researchers at Archbold Biological Station, hopes to locate and map every Scrub Jay existing in the state, and to assess its habitat size and quality. All FOS members aware of Florida Scrub Jays are urged to contact Archbold personnel (address at the end of this report) to report the locations of the bird(s).