What a Wrack!

Nothing about today shouted it would be a great day to head to the beach. None the less, that is where we ended up. We even deviated from our usual stomping ground, Jetty Park, but only by a mile. The tot and I stopped off at a small park, loaded the wagon, and headed up the beach. While my son searched for buried treasures, I searched for birds. The weather has been poor the last few days, so I was hoping something unexpected might show up.

As we entered the beach, it was kind of hard miss the massive wrack line that spanned as far as we could see. We headed north, toward Jetty Park, which was a possible destination, so long as the threat of rain remained low.

Semipalmated Plover

I was happy to see that the abundance of sea debris attracted an abundance of shorebirds.

nonbreeding Sanderling

breeding Sanderling

Least Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper?

breeding Ruddy Turnstone

It was a good idea to watch your step today...

Luckily we avoided any painful steps...

Coming into to the port...

 Have a relaxing weekend!

(This little fellow fell out of an oak tree in my yard and landed a few feet from me...thankfully not on me)

The Color Purple

Luckily, the light is shining at the end of this busy week's tunnel, and summer break is now only 2 weeks away! I've haven't made it to any of my favorite patches in nearly a week, but thankfully a few kind birds have shown up in some of the places I have made to! Here are a few of the locals (or possibly visitors) that I've encountered....

Sandhill Crane Colt

I've been keeping an eye out for the new Sandhill Crane family since spotting them two weeks ago. Saturday I came across them as I passed through a nearby neighborhood. The chicks, of course, have grown tremendously in just 2 weeks. This one seemed to be aware of the appropriate place to walk as it meandered down the sidewalk.

Sandhill Crane cooling off

I was rather amused to see one of the adults take a detour through a yard to cool off in someone's sprinkler. The rest of the family followed suit. It was quite warm last weekend.

Osprey

I've noticed the Osprey, the one who built the nest in my neighbor's tree, appears to have attracted a mate; way to go! Sunday night, though, some sort of melee broke out when a third Osprey decided to try and get in on the mix. The sun had already set and the residual light didn't work in favor of capturing any decent photos.

This Red-bellied Woodpecker was pulling some unidentifiable matter from the palm tree in my yard.

Semipalmated Plover

We did manage a short trip to the park to help my son expend some energy. I was happy to notice that we were not alone as three Semipalmated Plover had stopped by the river's edge to forage.

Purple Gallinule

"Purple" bird sightings seem to be the theme over the past few weeks . It started with this Purple Gallinule I spotted at the wetlands a week ago. A few other observers I spoke to relayed that there were two in the area and that the Gallinules appeared to be collecting nesting materials. Purple Gallinule babies would be cool to see! I've only seen this species here on one other occasion.

Purple Martin

Today, I came across a small, but noisy flock of Purple Martins. They are not quite as "purple" as the Gallinule, but they were interesting to watch. I noted at least 8 females and 2 males.

Boat-Tailed Grackle

Even though its name doesn't contain the word purple, this Boat-Tailed Grackle was looking quite dapper showing off its iridescent purple and blue in the sun.

Enjoy your weekend!