I made a quick trip to Fort Desoto one night after work. I got there right before dark and the shorebirds were already trying to sleep. The sun was going down and they were settling in for the night. The east beach was full of dunlins, dowitchers, sanderlings and the usual terns and gulls.
It’s always fun watching a skimmer taking a bath.
Splashing around like a kid in a bathtub.
“Clean your underarms” I told him.
Face in the water.
All done.
That’s a little too close.
Royal terns are showing up on the beach with their summer hat on. During breeding season the top of their head is all black. During winter, they have mostly white on their head with a little gray on the sides.
Willet shaking it off.
Marbled godwit digging for snacks.
I think these are dunlins in non-breeding feathers.
Oystercatcher taking a nap. It’s amazing how they can sleep on one foot. I couldn’t sleep on one foot much less standing up.
Just a few birds I found out on the beach in early April when I was waiting for the baby owl to decide whether he wanted to fly or not. I know people stand there for hours waiting for “that” shot but I have to get out and walk around.
Little sandpiper creeping around in the fog.
Dowitchers watching me as they walk by.
Where did his head go?
There were a lot of dowitchers on the beach that morning. I usually only see a few.
The usual black bellied plover.
Taking a bath in the back.
It’s weird to see a palm warbler on the beach, walking around in the sand like he’s a shorebird.
A few dunlins mixed in with the dowitchers.
They were digging around in the old dried up seaweed on the shore.
This one had seaweed all over his beak.
Another windy, foggy, cloudy morning. Which meant the kiteboarders would be out.
These guys were not at Fort Desoto. They were taking off from the beach along the Sunshine Skyway bridge, across the bay. Based on the direction of the wind, it was a better spot to kiteboard in.
A quiet morning at Fort Desoto since the weather was yucky.
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