Birds on the beach

There was no shortage of birds along the shoreline and I had fun trying to take pictures. Even though I took the manual to my new camera, I didn’t read it. I do know it has a setting for “Beach” which I used a lot.

The Laughing Gulls were everywhere and quite sociable. They actually do laugh. Or it certainly sounds as if they do.

"You lookin' at me?"

This is a Dunlin. I’d never heard of a dunlin. They summer on the tundras way up north. I guess our cooler spring has kept them here a little longer.

Black-bellied Plovers were easy to spot. They're very striking birds.

My best research says this is a Stilt Sandpiper. It looks a lot like a Lesser Yellowleg, but I think it’s legs are not yellow.

Gwen spotted the nest of a great blue heron on a morning walk into the St. George Island State Park. She even saw fledglings.

By the time I got there, this lone adult stood sentry with no babies in sight.

Trying to take the easy way out, these guys were hanging around a fisherman waiting for a handout.


Cute little Ruddy Turnstones ran all over the beach. They were always just a few yards in front of me as I walked.

The one bird I didn’t get photos of was the brown pelican. They seem to like the intracoastal waterway between the island and the mainland. We saw lots of them when crossing the bridge as they flew alongside in the opposite direction. Fascinating birds. I really, really wish I had pictures.

But I figure by now you have all seen pictures of brown pelicans – albeit with oil-soaked feathers and nests. If not, just visit CNN.com.

Don’t get me started.

This bird was spotted on the drive down off Hwy 231 near Troy. Made entirely out of chrome car bumpers -

mostly from VW bugs.