There were few birds out on the beach at Fort Desoto when I visited during the peak of the red tide algae bloom. The few there were busy eating breakfast. Some were eating the dead sea life that had washed up on shore. I didn’t see any birds acting sick during this trip. Volunteers were out on the beach every day looking for sick birds that could be affected by eating too much of the dead fish. I kept yelling “Don’t eat that.” but they weren’t listening.
A cormorant and osprey were fighting over a lamp-post on the pier.
Even the crows were eating the dead fish. The park rangers kept raking up the shoreline but the dead fish kept washing up on shore.
Royal terns in the air.
The sandbar spit across the channel was full of birds.
Still a beautiful day out at Fort Desoto.
Wonderful photographs, Dina! You’re right, the Fort is beautiful even in poor conditions.
Red tide has been around forever. In the 1950’s, scientists treated Florida’s coasts with copper sulfate which killed some of the algae but also killed a huge amount of sea life. Oops. Humans strike again!