Beach Birds

 The Least Terns have returned to the area! I saw my FOY Least Tern on Easter morning along the Indian River near my house. This week I saw a dozen of them at the beach near Jetty Park. These tiny terns are rather boisterous and I usually detect their presence upon hearing their distinctive calls. Luckily for this Least Tern, very few gulls were at the beach today so it wasn't harassed when it arrived on the beach with a fish!

Over the past two months, the Royal Terns have been developing their breeding plumages. Breeding plumages can only mean one thing!

Courtship appears to be going well!

Among the large group of Royal Terns and Black Skimmers, there was this lone Sandwich Tern. The tern is also developing its black cap.

I've been to Jetty Park twice over the past two weeks and both times there have been ten or more banded Royal Terns among the large flock. I've only been able to read a few of the many numbers on the bands.

Today, I saw this banded Ruddy Turnstone. The colored flags are much easier to read!

As I walked along the surf, the Skimmers were making their way to the water to cool off.

One skimmer made its way to the water followed by the entire flock...one at a time!

Jetty Park 1/20/13

We went to Jetty Park early Sunday morning to see if the Razorbill reported Saturday afternoon was still around. I felt hopeful as we pulled up and saw a small crowd of people checking out some action in the channel. It turned out to be a submarine navigating its way out of the port, which was pretty cool to see, but not quite as cool as a Razorbill would have been...

Gulls never seem to let any birds (or people) eat in peace. If a bird is brave enough to return to the beach with its catch, they can be sure a hot pursuit is imminent. As we walked out on the jetty, we saw this Ring-billed Gull getting a taste of its own medicine as it was relentlessly tagged teamed  by a Great Black-backed Gull and immature Herring Gull (I think).

The Ring-billed Gull didn't seem intimidated and held on to its meal.  I lost sight of them after a few minutes, so I missed the final outcome.

I saw this Bonaparte's Gull floating close to the rocks along the jetty. These handsome birds look similar to the Laughing Gulls that heavily populate the area year round.

This Royal Tern didn't seem to the Sanderling that was foraging underneath him.

There is always a large group of Skimmers at Jetty Park. The flock can usually be seen resting on the beach. A few of the Skimmers decided it was feeding time, and put on quite a show as they skimmed back and forth along the beach.

A Few More Beach Birds

We spent another morning at Jetty Park on Friday. Not only did we enjoy a beautiful morning, but there were plenty of birds to enjoy as well! 

Black Skimmer

This Black Skimmer looked like some of us feel by Friday! While it looks like this Skimmer may have crashed and burned, it is actually just resting. That large bill gets heavy!

Black Skimmer

Black Skimmer

Last week there was quite a bit of skimming action going on, but this week, with the exception of a few joining the group, the Skimmers were all resting. I counted 32 of them with 8 being juveniles.

Willet

This lone Willet was practicing its one legged balancing skills.

Magnificent Frigatebird

This juvenile Magnificent Frigatebird took a brief break from soaring the high skies to make a low pass along the beach where the large group of Terns, Gulls, and Skimmers were resting.

After a quick check of the beach action, the Frigatebird was gone. This is the second Frigatebird I've seen at Cape Canaveral in past month.

Red Knot

This nonbreeding Red Knot was foraging in the swallow tide with two others. Other birds that we observed include Royal Terns, Sandwich Terns, Least Terns, one Long-billed Dowitcher, one Semipalmated Plover, and numerous Sanderlings.

A Few Peeps

While at the beach in Cape Canaveral this past weekend,  I came across a few peeps. This poor little one looked like it was as disgusted by the trash as I was.

These are Sanderlings (thank you Mia of http://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/)

There were about ten Sanderlings, some in breeding colors, scattered in with the terns.

There was also this group of four larger shorebirds, which maybe nonbreeding Red Knots, Knot sure though,  keeping to themselves. One was banded with a red flag.

This little Sanderling was having some bill envy!

One tired peep!

Beach Babes

My tot and I took an early morning jaunt to the beach yesterday. He fit right in as there was quite a variety of youngsters around. We counted around 50 Black Skimmers on the beach, with about 5 of them being juveniles. The Skimmers were resting most of the time, but occasionally they would go out  for a quick skim.

The beach was most heavily populated with terns, including numerous Royals, a handful of Sandwiches, and one Forster's. Several of these juvenile appeared to demonstrate behaviors that parallel those of our young children. This young Royal was definitely making its needs known...."mom, I'm hungry!"

"MOMMM, I'M hungry!!!"

This young one had to touch everything it could get its bill on. From this angle, it looked like the tern was attempting to assault the sandpiper. (note~the Sandpiper's identify has been concealed for its own protection).

This lone Forster's Tern, which, as you can see, is much smaller than a Royal Tern, just kept to himself.

This juvenile Sandwich Tern wasn't up to much.

This is also a juvenile Sandwich Tern (I think) but it had some interesting looking legs that were orange and black.

And the mini birder finding his own birds.

Great Balls of Fire

We headed out of the house a little before 5:30 am yesterday morning to watch the launch of a Delta rocket. We landed at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral, where there was a lot going on to keep us entertained during the three hour delay.

A pre-sunrise walk on the jetty.

A cruise ship coming into port.

                                                           
                                                           The sunrise from the beach.

A Skimmer skimming the shoreline.

Terns touching down.

A Laughing Gull soaring the skies.

A small crab putting up a fight.

Finally, the Delta rocket launching!