It was a drizzly dark morning. I was in my car waiting for the storm to go by and I saw the above stork walk by my car.
Great blue heron wading in the water.
After the rain passed, I walked down the beach to look for the brown booby on the tower. I saw this sad wet juvenile laughing gull sitting on the sand.
A sandwich tern walking along the shoreline.
Marbled godwits walking along.
Common terns (??) standing in the water.
I think this is a juvenile sandwich tern flying by.
I finally saw him! The brown booby at Fort Desoto. I think this was my 6th trip looking for him. Actually, I go down there quite a bit anyway and kept stopping by the tower to look for him. Several other birders were there and all were excited to see him no matter how far away he was. He seems to rest out on the tower in the bay near the fishing pier off and on. This is extremely highly cropped. You can just barely make out the blue beak. I had a shot of his orange looking feet but the top of him was even more blurry. This was labor day weekend and he’d been randomly seen for over a month.
It gets harder and harder to find new birds. I read on Florida bird reports that different birds are spotted all over central Florida but work and family commitments have kept me from taking any road trips this summer. I’ve been sticking close to home and only on Saturdays. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get around this winter.
Check out more pictures at Our World Tuesday
Also, check out more birds at Paying Ready Attention for
Sad or not, the wet baby laughing gull made me laugh.
I can just make out the blue beak on the booby. I know I was spoiled because the bluefooted, redfooted, and Nazca boobies in the Galapagos Islands are unafraid of people so they were very easy to photograph. There’s not much shade on those islands, and I have trouble with too much sun, so I backed myself into a prickly bush and saw female redfoots on nests, one on either side of me. We had a good old girly chat while I waited for my husband and the rest of our group to return.
K
Great shots and glad you got the Booby. I saw one in St. Maarten. BTW, those are Forster’s Terns with the orangy colored legs.
What an excellent spot. You were so lucky to se that Booby – well done.
So glad you finally got to see the Booby! And that baby gull is too funny.
A new bird, lucky you!
I’m glad you were able to see and photograph the Booby. You also have a good variety of other shorebirds – I especially like the photo of the in-flight Tern.
Absolutely stunning photography of nature’s wildlife ~ what a place ~ thanks, carol ~
Congrats on your Brown Booby sighting! Love all the birds, beautiful shots.
Nice find, and beautiful set of images!
You spotted the booby! Hooray..I was going to say lucky you, but it was hard work and skill…you worked for this great sighting. A sad laughing gull is kind of funny, poor thing! And Dina, you of all people don’t need NEW birds for your posts to be amazing. Your photos show new sides and new beauty every time …thanks for sharing!
Beautiful photos. Congrats on the new bird!
Wonderful images… congrats on the newbie.
The birds that you caught are just gorgeous. I’m sure that one day, when you least expect it, you will get the shots you are looking for!
Great shots! The Booby looks like it’s sitting on it’s butt!
Congratulations on finding the elusive Brown Booby.