My first lesser black backed gull

On September 2, 2013October 17, 2019 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography18 Comments

I thought I was going to have to walk up and down the beach for a while to find him. I walked out from the parking lot and there he was standing. Right in front of me. I took a couple of quick shots before a jogger was heading for him and he flew off.

Up close. He’s really pretty! I have read that it’s been documented that he has visited this beach every summer for the last 5 years. I finally made it over there to look for him.

After the jogger scared him off, he flew far out into the gulf.

Close by, a juvenile royal tern was taking a nap.

There was a small flock of them right where the black backed gull was standing.

An adult flew in with a fish. He did not give it to that begging juvenile but took off with it in his mouth.

Another adult landed with a fish and was offering it up to his mate. It seemed late for flirting. Nesting season was mostly over and the babies were all flying by now. Maybe these were late lovers? It’s funny the way they do this dance with their wings. She did not take the fish. They both flew off together. Maybe they were getting a room?

This guy was all by himself. At first I thought it was a juvenile sandwich tern but usually they have a little more beige in their beak. Unless he’s a little older. Any ideas?

After missing out on the brown booby and the common eider, I thought I would try for the lesser black backed gull. I found him right away so after leaving that area I decided to try again for the eider. There were several other birders looking for him with no luck before lunch. Someone there told me a guy finally saw him on his 8th trip. It was only my 2nd time looking. Maybe I’ll try a third time. Is it “three times a charm” or “three strikes and you’re out” when it comes to looking for a bird?

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A new bird at the Sunshine Skyway fishing pier

On March 25, 2013March 25, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography8 Comments

My 2nd trip to the Sunshine Skyway fishing pier to look for the rare kittiwake was successful. I parked my car near the end of the pier (you can drive on this pier since it used to be the old bridge) and got out of my car thinking I was going to spend hours looking at every bird flying by for it. Well, it was sitting right outside my car. I took this from my car window.

He had a friend, the royal tern, standing next to him.

Many birds were on the pier even though it was a windy cold morning.

After watching him for a few minutes, he stood up. By now several other photogs were standing there taking his picture.

He flew off.

Snowy egrets were hitching a ride on a fishing boat.

Sleepy pelican.

The rare kittiwake sighting in central Florida comes at a price. Because the two birds (yes, there were two at first) picked a busy fishing pier, one of them got caught in a fish hook and sinker and died about a week after they arrived. A birder happened to be on the pier and saw the rare birds and posted it on a bird forum. Hoards of birders came from all over the state to see the birds. Several people saw the bird swallow the sinker and get hooked and posted the event on the bird forum. Not to mention all of the hooked pelicans, loons, gulls and terns that they saw. Because the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary is not taking in injured birds due to financial issues, they did not respond to the numerous phone calls they got. A new bird rescue group is starting up and hopefully they will be able to help save many of the injured birds there. More on injured loons later.

An article about the recent kittiwake death and all of the injured birds at fishing pier from The Tampa Bay Times can be found here.

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Injured birds around the fishing pier – Skywatch Friday

On February 21, 2013February 21, 2013 By dinajohnstonIn bird photography18 Comments

Hubby and I stopped by the Sunshine Skyway fishing pier to look for the rare kittiwake that had been sighted there earlier that week. We looked, along with several other birders, for over an hour with no luck. I did get a lot of “birds in flight” practice that morning.

I realized after I cropped this up that the royal tern had a hook in his beak. This was a common sight around the pier.

I saw another royal tern on the other side of the pier with a hook pulling on his skin. He was trying to swallow a big fish. He got the fish down but not without doing more damage to the beak area. I’m not sure how someone would be able to catch this one. He was flying pretty good and stayed on the other side of the pier that you can’t get to.

Another royal tern with a fish.

He flew right over my head. No hooks here.

This common loon has a hook in it’s beak.

This loon was showing off. This has been a banner winter for loons in the Tampa bay area. We only get them in the winter here around Tampa and last winter I only saw 2.

Back down for another fish.

Ruddy turnstone posing on an oyster bed.

A view of the Sunshine Skyway bridge from the rest stop. The bridge takes you from St. Petersburg over the bay to Sarasota and south Florida. This new bridge opened in 1985 after a freighter crashed into the old one doing enough damage to close it down back in 1980. Part of the old bridge is still used as a fishing pier.

The couple of times that I’ve been out on the fishing pier, it has been packed with people fishing. The birds, including gulls, terns and pelicans, hang out here to fish as well. They also like to steal the bait fish from the fisherman. The biggest problem is that the birds will go after a fish that is already on a hook and the birds get hooked too. There are educational boards all over the fishing pier with instructions on how to reel in a hooked bird and take the hook out. It is clear to never cut the line. The bird will die with a hook and fishing line trailing behind it. After spending time on the pier, you will get the impression that most people don’t care and will just cut the line. I say most because there are a few people out there with a soul and will help release the bird the right way. With the amount of birds flying around with hooks, most just cut the line. The local bird rescue and rehab company has been having financial problems and has stopped taking in injured birds. A new group of volunteers are working on starting up a new rescue group. With all of the birders out on this pier recently looking for the kittiwake, there’s been a growing concern on how to help out at the pier.

There’s so much more to this story. I’ll save that for a later date. I still stand behind my thought “No fishing should be allowed on fishing piers.” Like that would ever happen in Florida.

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