Glaucous Gull and More on Tybee North Beach

Finally, a beautiful morning on the beach! Mild winds, warmer temperatures and bird activity. The yellow-rumped warblers are still everywhere but getting handsome.

Walking along the beach at the North End of Tybee, the first thing that caught my eye was a large gull that seemed way too white. I studied all the features - no black in the tail, large bill, very pale gray mantle and a light colored eye. Could it be a Glaucous Gull? After taking many pictures and consulting my Sibley as well as a couple of other references, I concluded that Yes, this was indeed a Glaucous Gull.

Glaucous Gull - View 1

Glaucous Gull - note all white wing tips, light mantle, heavy bill and light eye.

Also of interest on the beach were the Laughing Gulls in their snappy breeding plumage, already "laughing" loudly. A couple of Bonaparte's Gulls were hanging out as well.

Laughing Gull "Laughs"

Bonaparte's Gull with Sanderling

 On the way back from the beach, a waterthrush walked out onto the path and bobbed its way along ahead of us. I studied and studied but don't quite know which to call it. The eye stripe was long but did not seem to get wider at the back end. The throat was clear and unstreaked which would indicate Louisiana. I would be grateful for input from other birders.

Which Waterthrush View 1?

Which waterthrush View 2

Thank you to Jim Morekis and Connect Savannah for reviewing my book - Birder's Eye View: Savannah & the Low Country. To read the review, click here:
 http://www.connectsavannah.com/savannah/books/Category?oid=2130511

Please join me at Barnes & Noble in the Oglethorpe Mall on Saturday, April 20 from Noon until 2 pm. I'll be happy to attempt to answer your bird questions...(bring photos!) and sign copies of my book.

On Tuesday, April 16, Ogeechee Audubon will be presenting a program about Birds of Alaska, led
by Dot Bambach, Sandy Beasley and myself at 7 pm at First Presbyterian Church on Washington Avenue. Hope to see many of you there!

Puffins on the Rocks - St. Paul Island, Alaska

Signs of Spring & More

Well, I set out on Sunday morning to find signs of spring. The first thing I noticed was a lot of song – cardinals crooning, the brown thrasher doing his couplets from atop the oak tree, the red-bellied woodpecker drumming on metal on the telephone poll, and the wonderful wandering warble of the yellow-throated warbler.

 After watching gnatcatchers flit about, dozens of yellow-rumped warblers, and hearing the red-breasted nuthatch, I head for the Unitarian Universalist Church and then down to Hinesville where my friend Nicole had an extra-special bird visitor – an adult male Bullock's oriole.

I arrived about 1 pm to find that the oriole had visited at 12:15 and again at 12:45. While waiting for him to reappear, I enjoyed watching the Carolina chickadee gleaning fiber from the twine hanger of a nest ball.

 At about 1:35, the oriole made a brief appearance, slurping up some grape jelly before flying up into the magnolia.

Gene Keferl from Brunswick timed his arrival perfectly as the bird showed up about 5 minutes after he did.

We waited around for another viewing, which came about 45 minutes later.

More signs of spring were to follow.
On Monday morning, Tim Miller called to report a First of the Season for him swallow-tailed kite in Effingham County.

On Tuesday evening, a northern parula – my first this spring – visited my birdbath.

Then on Tuesday evening, my friend Connie and I found a Louisiana waterthrush in the wet area at the back of her Talahi Island property.

 I got some not great photos but enough to show the flattened  head, larger bill, white throat, and
long, spreading eyeline.

I was thrilled since many years the Louisiana waterthrushes slip through early and I miss them completely.
















Of course, it wouldn't truly be spring without the soft warble and brilliant color of the male eastern bluebird. This handsome fellow was hanging out near a box on Pinckney Island. His date was nearby on a fence.

I can't wait to see who will show up next!

Well, a month ago when I missed seeing the Snowy Owl on St. Simon's Island, I jokingly told my friend Nicole that the owl needed to come to Tybee. Yesterday afternoon, she called me and said that my wish had been granted. Tybee resident Julie Dillon looked off her 3rd floor balcony to the roof of the condo next door and saw a large white bird. She checked on the internet and determined that it was a Snowy Owl. Julie attempted to reach me at home and at work. Unfortunately, I was in town for a presentation and couldn't rush back to see the owl.

I went out first thing this morning and driving down Tybrisa, almost to the Pier, I glanced to my left to see a large white owl perched on a cupola of a condo. Before I could get my camera ready, it flew.
When I parked and went to the front of the building, there was Mr. Snowy sitting on the edge. I took a quick photo in the near darkness.  Then a Cooper's Hawk flew in and the next time I looked the owl was gone.

Several other folks arrived and we searched in vain for more than an hour. Just when I was about to give up, we saw a large white shape fly towards us and land on the rooftop of Julie's condo. He sat there for several hours. What a day! What a bird! WOW!

December Birds

December has been a very active month in the bird world. At my parents' mid-town Savannah home, they are covered up with Baltimore Orioles eating grape jelly and drinking hummingbird nectar. My Dad put a dish with mealworms in the Christmas tree that was on the deck before being brought in for decorating. He was rewarded with some live decorations - eastern bluebirds and Carolina wrens.

Baltimore Oriole Male

Eastern Bluebird in the Christmas Tree

Eastern bluebird pair coming for mealworms

 At my house, I continue to enjoy regular visits to my feeder by as many as FOUR red-breasted nuthatches. Although they do eat peanuts and sunflower seeds, they seem to favor Nutrasaff - high in protein and fat with a soft shell.

Red-breasted Nuthatch Male

Today I went to the North Beach Jetties on the incoming tide. It was windy and a bit rough. A group of about 50 Ruddy Turnstones and 9 Purple Sandpipers had been feeding on the rocks. As the tide came in, they moved to the rocks close to where I was standing to try to get a little rest. I was able to get within 6 feet of them and they seemed to mostly ignore me. WOW?

Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers hang out on the rocks

Purple Sandpiper & Ruddy Turnstone

Purple Sandpiper

  

North Wind Doth Blow

At Savannah National Wildlife Refuge on Sunday and on Tybee today, the wind was blowing and the winter birds were present. At SNWR, the grassy areas were once again hopping with sparrows. I found Savannah, White-throated and Song. Also hopping about like sparrows were many Palm Warblers.

Savannah Sparrow

Palm Warbler

I saw a male northern harrier, many glossy ibis, small flock of shorebirds and even some duck –  blue-winged teal and ring-necked ducks.

Glossy Ibis, Blue-winged Teal Females, Common Gallinule

On the beach at the full moon high tide, the strong cold wind was churning up white caps at the north end. The flock of black skimmers on the beach was amazingly large - probably between 500 and 1000 birds.

White caps on Tybee North Beach - river side

Black skimmers on the beach and in the air!

 

 

In the pines and wax myrtle along Polk Street I found a phoebe, pine warblers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, yellow-rumped warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets, palm warblers, and a pair of red-breasted nuthatches.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Pine Warbler in the Pine

 Back at my house on Spanish Hammock, the first thing I heard was the nasal honking of a pair of red-breasted nuthatches. Much to my surprise and delight, they had found my feeders and visited regularly throughout the afternoon. Also in the yard was a hermit thrush, pine warbler on the feeders, and a pair of ruby-crowned kinglets.

Red-breasted Nuthatch likes Nutrasaff!

GOS Fall Meeting and Home to Tybee Island

Western Sandpipers (I think!)

I went down to Jekyll Island on Friday for the Fall Meeting of Georgia Ornithological Society. I took the opportunity to attend a shorebird workshop led by Kevin Karlson and go out with him and others in the field the next day. We spent a lot of time working on telling apart western and semipalmated sandpipers. I learned that female westerns are larger and generally have longer beaks than male westerns, and the same goes for semipalmated sandpipers - females are larger than males. Westerns generally have a larger, rangier look and more block-shaped head. That said, when I returned to Tybee, I went out to check the beach at high tide and found lots of roosting birds. I think these are western sandpipers - maybe a smaller male on left and larger female on right, but I still have doubts and would welcome comments.

One fun thing was seeing all the roseate spoonbills. They were roosting in a tree at high tide and then came down to feed on a mud bar. Definitely seem to be expanding their range northward.

Roseate Spoonbills Feed on Mudflat

On East Beach at St. Simon's we found a piping plover that was banded. I sent a photo up to the University of Minnesota where Alice van Zoeren replied right away to say that the plover hatched in 2007 at Brevort, MI along the north shore of Lake Michigan in the upper peninsula. She was banded as an adult in 2009 at Gulliver, MI, a little to the west. WOW! Thanks Alice!

Piping Plover banded on Lake Michigan

Back on Tybee on Monday & Tuesday mornings, the nearly 9 foot high tide had lots of birds on the beach. There were 70 American Oystercatchers, 4 banded. Green CCY, Yellow N4, Blue CR & Vertical Red 6K.

American Oystercatchers rest on the beach at high tide.

The shorebirds were very cooperative with willets, black-bellied plovers and short-billed dowitchers posing side by side in good light.

Willets, Black-bellied Plovers, Short-billed Dowitchers.

Short-billed Dowitcher & Black-bellied Plover

More than 75 Caspian terns were patrolling
the beach fishing as well as resting on the sand.

In the songbird arena, on the way to the beach, I saw my first of the season yellow-rumped warbler as well as a white-throated sparrow. There were many gray catbirds feeding on wax myrtle berries. One surprise was this juvenile white-crowned sparrow!

What a great few days of coastal birding!