Skywatch Friday - Bathing on the beach

I arrived as Redington Shores beach to find gray clouds lingering around one night after work last week. I had about 30 minutes before it started to rain. At least the weather cooled off.



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There was a puddle of water close to the shore line from the high tide earlier. The gulls and terns seemed to have fun taking a bath in the puddle. They were so busy dunking under the water and preening themselves that they didn't seem to mind me sitting down in front of them and taking pictures. After they finished, they flew around to get the excess water off. At that point it started to rain so they were going to get soaked anyway. It was time for me to go home.

Mating season on the beach

The signs are up. The big nesting areas are roped off. Fort Desoto has roped off a good portion of the north beach for nesting birds this year. The tons of locals who frequent that beach aren't going to be happy.

Sandwich terns doing a mating dance.

Sandwich terns getting busy.

The terns bring fish to entice the mate. It looks like the one on the right wasn't impressed.

Laughing gulls mating. She looks at me like "I'm going to need a cigarette."

It's mating season on Fort Desoto beach. The beach was full of gulls and terns getting down to business. Soon they will be hiding out nesting and fighting off the blackbirds and bigger gulls who will try and steal the eggs. Please, if you are visiting any Florida beaches, stay out of the roped off areas. It's easy to not see a nest and step on one or scare the parent into abandoning the nests.

A walk around Sand Key

Laughing gull's gotta an itch. Most of the laughing gulls are getting black heads now which means breeding season will be starting soon for them.

This ring billed gull is taking a nap. I like the bright pink that outlines their eyes. I have read it is part of their breeding color.



Up close great egret. He was very pretty but looked too skinny.


Prancing around the fishing docks looking for a handout.

A recent walk around Sand Key Park was a little disappointing. It was very windy and a little cold. There were not too many birds around. I spoke to a fisherman on the fishing dock under the big bridge and he told me not too many fish were biting. It's going to take a while before they rebound from the big freeze in January. I guess most of the birds are still staying south looking for food. I did notice that the gulls are starting to show their breeding colors. A lot of the great egrets are showing their lime green around the beak. The one above was just starting to get his.

Cold windy day

Osprey flapping in the wind.

Seagulls resting on a quiet dock.

Birds feeding around a fire hydrant on Davis Islands.

You can almost always find oystercatchers around Davis Islands.


Willet looking at himself.

Bad hair day.

Brett & I decided to brave the cold (yes, here it's cold at 55 degrees) and wind late Sunday afternoon and get some excercise walking around Davis Islands by the airport. A huge blanket of clouds hid the sun right after we got there so it got even colder. We lasted about an hour. There were still a handfull of birds around. I figured they would all head for Miami. I would have if I could fly off anywhere at anytime.

Birds of Sand Key

Royal tern posing on the beach. Nice toupee.

Snowy egret on an uncomfortable fence.

Great Blue Heron walking along the seawall.

Looking for fishermen who might be giving handouts.

Late last Sunday afternoon was so nice I went for a long walk at Sand Key Park. The small fishing piers below the big Sand Key bridge over to Clearwater beach had a diverse group of birds hanging around. All were hoping for a handout from someone fishing. Most of the people fishing were just ignoring the birds. I'm sure they don't want the birds to get their bait. It's a pretty view when standing under that big bridge. You can see all of downtown Clearwater and the causeway. I was hoping to see dolphins going by, maybe next time. There were a few nice sailboats going by though, like the one below.

Getting ready for bed.

I stopped by the beach on the Courtney Campbell causeway on the Clearwater side one night last week to see what shorebirds where hanging around. It was almost sundown and there were lots of different shorebirds all hanging around together getting ready for bed. They were preening, swimming and getting a last few bites in. Some were already trying to sleep. Lots of willets, sanderlings, plovers and lesser yellowlegs among them. They seemed to be staying away from the gulls and terns on the beach.

It always amazes me how they can balance on one leg while they are sleeping. You would think they would just plop down on beach to sleep.

Birds of a feather

Flock of snowy egrets hanging around Fort Desoto shore at sunset.

Group of white birds (great egret and ibis) in a big old tree at Fort Desoto. I wonder if they'll sleep there. It was sunset.


Ibis looking for some last minute food before dark.

A group of shorebirds all together getting ready for bed.

Close up of above - skimmers, oystercatcher, godwits, willets.

Last night I went to Fort Desoto after work to catch some sunset pictures. There were lots of large flocks of birds everywhere. It looks like they were getting ready for bed or getting some last minute bed time snacks. I guess they think there is safety in numbers at night. The fishing pier was busy with people fishing and birds were still hanging around looking for a handout even after the sun had gone down. It was a beautiful sunset (even though it was still 90 degrees). I'm sure it rivals any sunset in Key West. I have several pictures in my flickr stream of it.