Sunday, February 6, 2011

Windy day at Honeymoon Island


Is this a caspian tern or common tern?  They both look alike. Anyway, it's fairly rare to see one here. Too many laughing gulls around.


Black vulture posing on snag.

This looks like a pine warbler. It was the closest thing in my Audubon guide.


Woodpecker hanging upside down.

 

I think this is a juvenile ring-billed gull (adult below). There were a handful of ring billed gulls hanging around on the beach. This one was eating the insides of the conch.

Adult ring billed gull. I like the way their feet matches their beak.


Kiteboarder at Honeymoon Island.  Looking down to Clearwater beach.

Two weekends ago it was very windy. I decided to hit the nature trail at Honeymoon Island to see what was going on with the eagles there. I had heard they had 2 baby chicks but they were still too small to show their heads. It didn't feel windy on the inside wooded trail but I decided to head north along the mangrove trail to the north end beach. The wind was blasting. There were only a few gulls hanging around, no other shorebirds.  There wasn't a large variety of birds on the trail. I think the weather had blown them away. There are tons of osprey, more on those later. I decided to hit the beach before I headed home but when I got there it was just too windy (and I was hungry) so I didn't stay long. The rocky beach section was full of live conchs. The gulls were feeding off of them and a few shell seekers were looking around.  A few kiteboarders were out and they were moving fast across the water.

When I got home my husband said "Weren't you cold?" I said "No, wimp."

4 comments:

  1. I've been to Honeymoon Island a couple of times. What a beautiful place. I was more excited over the dolphins than the birds! Judging by the black tip on the tern's bill, I'd guess it is a Caspian. You certainly got some great shots! ~karen

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  2. Caspian gull I'd say too. You got some great shots including the kite boarder! Looks like he's just about to launch.

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  3. Great post - looks good for Caspian Tern to me too.

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  4. You really have a lot of beautiful birds there.

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