Monday, August 31st
Today I visited Bunche Beach Preserve from 9 am till 10 to take advantage of a rising tide and to look for Black and Common Terns. Black terns usually show up in our corner of Florida just before Labor Day and today we found at least six at Bunche. Was also able to add a first-for-the-year, for me, Common Tern. Plus a few Royal Terns, several Sandwich Terns and a few lingering Least Terns.
 Roseate Spoonbill |
The exposed mud flats at this low tide had attracted hundreds of shore and wading birds as well. They included Willets, Marbled Godwits, Short-billed Dowitchers, Black-bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers, Piping Plovers, a Snowy Plover, Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, Red Knots, Least Sandpipers, Western Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpipers and Brown Pelicans. We also had Great Blue Herons, Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egrets, Tricolored Herons, Reddish Egrets, White Ibis and Roseate Spoonbills.
Other sightings include
Osprey, a Bald Eagle, Barn Swallows, Belted Kingfisher and Northern Cardinals. What a great venue!!
A Photo Gallery of Today's Birds
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| Black-bellied Plover |
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| Black-bellied Plover |
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| Common Tern |
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| Black Tern |
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| Royal Tern |
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| Least Tern, wearing its winter plumage |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Western Sandpiper |
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| Western Sandpiper |
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| Least Sandpiper |
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| Western Sandpiper |
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| Western Sandpiper |
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| Roseate Spoonbill |
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| Roseate Spoonbill |
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| Willet dining on a crab |
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| A tagged Red Knot. Can't read the tag |
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| Short-billed Dowitcher |
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| Marbled Godwit |
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| Great Blue Heron |
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| Sanderling |
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
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| Spotted Sandpiper |
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| Snowy Plover |
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| Semipalmated Plover |
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| Osprey |
Roseate Spoonbill
Wonderful collection of images representing what you saw at Bunche Beach Preserve. Thanks for the notification of the banded Piping Plover you observed. I will be on the lookout for it. You Red Knot with flag had me immediately return to my sole image of the species from 29 August. The bird was in flight, and its legs were well hidden under its undertail covert feathers so if it were banded I will never know. Send me the pic of your bird and I will see if I can distinguish the letters on the flag. It would be rewarding to see the Black Tern at Bunche. I had read that hundreds were observed in Tampa a couple of days ago. They're making their way here. Even more rewarding would be the observation of Common Terns which are in spectacular plumage as you've captured.
ReplyDeleteForster's and Caspian would have completed the Tern spectrum! Great post, Tom!
ReplyDeleteHi Tom. Nice collection of images. Your bird in the two images labelled "Semipalmated Sandpiper" is an adult WESTERN SANDPIPER in basic (winter) plumage. Adult Semipalmated Sandpiper would still have most of its "summer" wing coverts at this time of the year. The bill is also wrong for Semi.
ReplyDelete