February in August . . .

. . . Another glorious sunrise over the Atlantic, in Feb., the coldest month of the year here in NE Florida. And I do mean cold . . . during one beach visit, my feet were so painfully numb I had to cut the time there short. But the sunrises are worth it!

I continued to find interesting calico scallops in Feb. Above, this scallop has acorn barnacles attached. The gray and yellow one below, was an especially unique find . . .

I found my second common nutmeg shell! Don't let the photo fool you, they only reach a max of 1.7" (4.5 cm)

I thought this was a "turkey wing" ark, but it's a red-brown ark. I only have one turkey wing, from the Gulf Coast. I have about 3 of these red-browns, compared to zillions of the incongruous arks. There are actually 10 types of arks found in Florida.

This royal starfish was growing an arm back . . .

I know it's sad to see a dead sea creature, but I was also fascinated to see a puffer fish on the beach. This is a Spiny Box Puffer, or Striped Burrfish.

I found a mostly buried sand dollar . . . and was surprised that it was a whole one!

Ring-billed gulls were hanging out one morning . . .

As were these herring gulls . . . (note pale pink legs) . . . only seen in winter here.

Royal terns are seen year-round, but it's more fun to see their 'do in winter. The "Florida's Living Beaches" ID book actually notes that "Royal terns shun 'the comb-over' " !

The Forster's terns were chillin' too . . . note the black mottled crown above the eye patch ~ in late winter, their heads darken from masks to caps.

This ruddy turnstone's plumage is transitioning from breeding to winter colors. Ruddies winter along most of Florida's coastlines, but they live year-round along the panhandle coast.

Another Day at the Beach

As luck would have it, good friends of ours, R and L, have purchased a monster RV and are taking delight in "camping" at a beach-front park in our area. They live near Orlando, and like many Floridians, lease their house out to snow birds…so they've been taking 4-7 day trips to escape the hustle and bustle of a more urban life. And we've been visiting them during their stays…the weather was nasty (but hey, no snow!) during their 3rd and 2nd-to-last visits, but it was just warm enough weather a week ago, during their most recent visit, when we met them on the beach….I didn't go far at all to take some photos of the shore birds at hand...

A large, mixed cluster of sea birds were just chillin' less than 50 yards from where we planted ourselves, including these two royal terns and their hilarious 'dos…they never cease to amuse me…once summer plumage takes over the 'do will be a solid black cap up to the bill...

This little Forster's tern will also have a solid black cap come summer, but they only winter along the Florida coastlines...

The black skimmers were still in presence, in a larger number than my previous visit...

…Again, a lone willet among the larger gulls and terns…the willets seem to be tireless feeders at the ocean's edge, and this was the first time I saw one head up onto the sand, and seem to think to itself "Hmm, this looks like a good spot…"

…And then proceed to settle in for a good rest.

There were also the usual small number of ruddy turnstones (and sanderlings) skittering about, and the one brave rogue who came close to see if a snack would be tossed its way…this shot was taken from my beach chair...

And so was this shot, I admit…out of nowhere this brown pelican flapped down to the sand, stood in one spot checking things out…and then took off…you never now what will come along at a Florida beach…we saw Northern gannets diving into the ocean, too far out for photos…and the token osprey made its appearance, also not quite close enough…

Just another day at the beach!


Back at our humble cottage, today...

I believe this is an Eastern phoebe! A lifer! It visited the back yard briefly…no seeds for this one tho. The yellow-rumped warblers, however, are flocking all over the place and even visiting our feeders these days.

 I also discovered that the Carolina wrens aren't as scarce as I thought…they're just busy nibbling insects on the north side of the house.

Beach Birds

...Not to be confused with snow birds,

Which I admit I still feel like I'm one of those...

Even tho we now have our Florida license plate

And Florida driver's licenses,

Making us "official" now!

Spring has sprung in S. Florida,

And I hope to get around the 'hood to get flora fotos soon.

In the meantime, we've been to Ft. Lauderdale Beach

A few times recently...

The laughing gulls' heads are blackening...

So are the royal terns, but this one is still in transition...

During our last trip to the SW coast, we checked out Bunche Beach,

Which is on the Great Birding Trail...

An osprey flew over, and a brown pelican,

But otherwise it wasn't impressive

Even if I did smile for this pic...

I thought I was taking a shot of a Calif. gull,

After once again failing to find any skimmers

Since I saw the two and had no camera...

BUT, this is actually a lifer!

Checking my Stokes guide,

I then thought it was a great black-backed gull...

But the legs are yellow, not pink...

So it is a lesser black-backed gull!

Now this royal tern has it's spring/summer black cap on...

This spiffy moth was in the driveway recently...

Ru remembers being afraid of these as a kid, cause they look like a wasp...

This is actually a polka-dot wasp moth!

Sanibel Island

Last week-ish, Ru and I drove to the west coast...

To have a look around the areas we're interested in living...

We ended up on Sanibel Island,

At Bowman's Beach...

We barely made it onto the causeway,

When we stopped on a narrow strip of beach 

To eat lunch...

And watch the shore birds...

An osprey dove into the water right in front of us...

No camera in hand of course...

But I did capture the black-bellied plover, above...

 

And a great egret...

 

Once at Bowman's Beach,

I gleefully strolled down the shore

Looking for seashells

And watching the feathered friends...

Like the sandwich terns, above

(Black bills w/ yellow tips)...

 

And this royal tern...

(All birds are in their winter plumage)...

 

The scenery was pleasant...

 

Walking back to the car, at the bridge

Over a waterway off of the ocean...

We watched two 'silver' gals

Canoeing at a brisk clip...

(Mom, you can do it!)