Shorebird Galore

Black Skimmers settling back down

Yesterday I headed back over to Bunche Beach first thing in the morning to see if I could get a few more shore birds under my belt. Luck was on my side, when I stepped onto the beach I was greeted with low tide and at least one thousand shore birds spread out as far as the eye could see. Another piece of luck, not another birder on the beach so I headed straight out over the sand to get close to the birds.


Western Sandpiper headed to breeding plummage

I will preface this entry (in the middle of it) by saying that I am horrible at shore bird identification. This is all new territory to me and I'm sure I'll mess up a bunch before getting it right. With that said I will attempt to describe what I was seeing. The first group of birds I walked up on were a mix of Sanderlings and Sandpipers. I wasn't sure about which they were and before I got more involved with trying to ID what they were I wanted to get some pictures as a record. I continued to walk a little bit and found a few Dunlin mixed in with the group as well.


Sanderling (who looks scared of his shadow)

A nice couple from Miami out doing some birding walked up at this point and pointed out the Piping Plovers that I hadn't gotten up to yet. I pointed out the Short-billed Dowitchers which were hanging out right at the waters edge. The husband informed me that the sandpipers were mostly Least Sandpipers. Looking back at my pictures though, they mostly seem to have dark legs and a few have reddish tinges on the heads and cheeks, indicating they are probably Western Sandpipers. Take a look above.


Piping Plover

Of the three Piping Plovers I saw, one of them was tagged with at least 4 leg bands. Also in the same area were Willet, Black-bellied Plover, and Killdeer. Brown Pelican flew over, Black Skimmers were huddled down further out, and Laughing Gulls were mixed in between.


Killdeer

Other birds around included: Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle (immature), Red-bellied Woodpecker, White Pelican, Least Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Plover, Tri-colored Heron, Double-crested Cormorant, Little Blue Heron, and White Ibis. I found a nice gentleman who was willing to look at some birds I had spotted out with the Skimmers and ID'ed them as Marbled Godwit! They were too far out for a picture but still an exciting spot!


Short-billed Dowitcher

All in all it was a nice way to start learning the shore birds. There was certainly LOTS of practice in identification.