Beachcomber's Basics

Due to changes in my life, I've decided to change my Blog as well…I've changed the title (not the URL), and am tweaking its direction. About a month ago, I began making an effort to get to the beach at least once a week, for both the physical and mental health that being at and walking on the beach gives me. Esp. now that it's spring and the weather's alot nicer…

I recently attended a "Beachcomber's Basics" class, and was greatly inspired to embrace my beach-y side. My doc had recently asked me, after informing me I need to lose 30 lb., what exercise I like to do best. Well, I like walking. I thought about her question for days, realized that what I really like best is walking…on the beach. So, I've been getting to the beach 1-2 times a week. I go early in the AM, to beat the heat and the "crowds", although the beach I go to is nearly deserted.  :)

I made one such run for the beach this AM…..

…And found 5-6 black-bellied plovers dotting the shore…

This was a first; I'd never seen more than one lone plover before…

They must be gathering before heading N. for the summer…

This plover's plumage is changing from winter to breeding colors…

I did see only one lone laughing gull…

My first photo this year of one with it's breeding plumage...

While at the Beachcomber's Basics class, a really handy guide book

was suggested, "Florida's Living Beaches: A Guide for the Curious

Beachcomber", which I dashed home and bought online…it's

definitely very handy to have! It IDs everything found on FL's coastlines, from 

shells to plants and shore birds. I've come across a handful of

different types of crabs lately (besides the common ghost crab)…

today I found my first speckled crab. Sorry to say, he's deceased.

Backyard Blue

It's definitely spring here in NE Florida, with temperatures in the 80's but not too humid, yet. It's the time of year I love sitting on the back screened porch and reading or watching the different birds eating at the feeders, flitting around in the trees, or zipping by on their way to somewhere else. A couple weeks ago, hubby put up a birdhouse for me in the best spot available to attract an Eastern bluebird couple. Well, today while enjoying the bird action and reading a good book, two bluebirds showed up. One was making a fuss, so I hope it wasn't sniping about not wanting to move in!

This bluebird was outside, in a nearby tree, and on the fence...

…Or the rooftop…

(Shots are blurry due to being taken through the porch screen)

…While the other one went indoors to check things out…

There's lots of action at the feeders, too, including goldfinches…

at first they were all the dull, wintery pale grey-yellow, but now

I'm seeing a few bright yellow males. The chipping sparrows have been
back, too. We're also seeing the usual:

No. cardinals, tufted titmice, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers,

and Carolina wrens…plus an occasional downy woodpecker,

a scarce palm warbler, some pine warblers, and I did see a brown

thrasher recently, but none since. No buntings at all like last year.  :(

Blue Spring State Park

Well, I see that I haven't posted on my Blog for eight months, yikes! Rather than try playing catch-up, I'll just share from the past couple months…

Of special note is the trip we took to Blue Spring State Park in Feb., to see the manatees of course! I was pretty excited and thrilled to get to see a manatee for the first time.

A mamma and her two calves...

Blue Spring is quite lovely!

At the mouth of the spring, on the St. Johns River, a cormorant was sunning itself.

Three Kites

Last year, I was excited to observe 1-2 swallow-tailed kites soaring over the house a couple times. This year, in the past few days, I've seen 3 kites land in the pine tree by the front of our house and, today, there were two soaring above the maple tree in the back yard. I haven't seen them attack any smaller feeder birds, or eating one, but why else would they be hanging out? Pretty cool to see them, regardless.

A Rumble in the Rookery

A few days ago, while visiting a mini rookery that hubby had come across in the Flagler Beach area, near the Intracoastal Waterway, things started out innocently enough…

"Because we always eat in order of hatching, Harold, and I pierced the shell first….now Back Off!"

Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree! Hun-gree!

"What fat juicy bug Maude? Heeeeeeyyyyy!"

"Okay, nex..." Sweet mother of God. Seriously?!

"Aack!! Holy craaa….."

"Right. I'm outie."

"Ma? Hello? Maude what's an obnoxious, ungrateful brat?"

Nearby, child-free Mildred sat quietly, alone on a branchless palm tree, relishing the solitude.

Another grateful rookery resident, this lone immature tri-colored heron. Managed to not get any sharp shots of it. Sigh.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Meanwhile, back at the child-free cottage...

My only shot of an extremely shy female ruby-throated hummingbird. I've seen her 2-3 times but haven't seen her actually feed.

Big excitement ~ the female downy woodpecker! Have seen her a few times in the past week or so, for the first time. For the past two years, I'd always seen only the male before now.

A Round-About Trip to Jacksonville

Not long after the trip to St. Augustine's rookery, friend Karen and I took a trip up north to Jacksonville and Amelia Island, as it turned out…there are several birding sites along the way and we made several stops to check things out. Overall I'm sorry to say I was disappointed, but we did get an eyeful of nature…

Just no male painted buntings like I was hoping...

My favorite shot of the day was this laughing gull at Huguenot Memorial Park…

(Just look at that saucy red lipstick!)

A gulf fritillary …. uh, somewhere…

We saw this cottontail on the trail to Boneyard Beach on Big Talbot Island...

The beach had a lot of "driftwood"…more like dead trees, hence the name…not a common sight in FL…

(Decided to do this shot in B&W, didn't like the colors)….

Seeing jellyfish washed ashore isn't so rare, however…but then again, seeing one in one piece isn't so common, for me at least…

Also saw this interesting hollow tree….

On a path to Amelia Island Beach, we encountered this baby gopher tortoise…it was marching along, stopping briefly to eat along the way...

Meanwhile, closer to home…near Flagler Beach, we saw this pileated woodpecker near the boardwalk that goes to the Intra Coastal Waterway…might be the same one I saw last time I was there...

I'd never noticed fiddler crabs before, below the boardwalk in the marsh muck…Karen pointed them out to me. Don't think I'd ever seen a fiddler crab before! (If memory serves me right, which is highly debatable, I'm sorry to say.)

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Back at home, the avian nursery work has been in full swing…this pops was gathering grub around my hydrangea bush...

Mayme I canph stuff oneph phore fug in myph mouph...

The Rookery ~ Part 4

Ok, this is my final entry for my visit to the rookery at St. Augustine Alligator Farm…last but not least, the tri-colored heron…and some odds and ends…             

Ok, about those odds and ends...There were a few wood storks…they must've been exhausted, having to bring all those babies in, eh?  Wink-wink.

One interesting pair of residents (?) were these white-cheeked pintail ducks…Da whaa? You may ask blank-faced…this duck belongs in the Caribbean, S. America, and the Galapagos Islands…it's a vagrant (just look at that devious leer) to Florida…apparently it's called the lesser Bahama pintail in Florida and the Caribbean (an alias to go with its vagrancy)…the ducks were on a tiny "pond" near the alligator pit and there was a name plate for them, but they weren't actually caged in…guess they really like the security system on hand…(did I mention that "the pit" holds 42 gators? A few of them were roughly the size of a cruise ship…)

…There also happened to be a pair of "normal" (Northern) pintails on hand, also with their own name plate and also free to leave...

…I sheepishly admit that in the past two years in Florida, I kinda knew, kinda ignored the fact that the boat-tailed grackles aren't the only grackles in the state…but in S. Florida, where we lived our first six months here, the boat-tails were all I saw…and heard…if I ever saw the common grackle before this visit to the rookery, then I didn't realize it so technically this is a lifer…the commons are 4 inches smaller than the boat-tails, and they come in "purple" and "bronze".