Beach Birds

     It's beach season! And Beach birding season. All my favorite!

     I took Friday to Visit Nickerson Beach and the Oceanside Nature Study Area out in Long Island and then took Saturday morning to visit Plumb Beach. Added a few more year birds onto my list and looking forward to more and more shorebirds to come!

     I usually look forward to visit Nickerson to gawk and have my heart melt over baby terns and plovers, thankfully, there were plenty of oystercatcher chicks to make my heart explode to amke up for the fact I am a touch early for other chickies.

Always a fun treat, black skimmers awkwardly on the ground. A heavy rain fell the night before, so there was a nice freshwater puddle and the birds were all over it, bathing, drinking, and wading. Black skimmers are like fighter jets in the air, but on the ground, they are almost comical.
But I love them nonetheless!

The best little beach nugget: piping plover.
These are a favorite of mine, can't wait for their babies!

A handsome sanderling, running among the waves in its breeding plumage.

Are all ruddy turnstone feet/legs black and orange?! I thought they were just orange...

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

BABY OYSTERCATCHERS!!!!!!!!

LOOK AT THOSE FRESH BEHBEH FEET!

I enjoyed watching this family from a respectable distance. I watched as the babies obeyed their parents, They waited at the high tide line while their parents foraged in the surf. With a yell from a parent, the babies went flat to the sand, taking cover and staying frozen until their parents returned. I made sure to never walk between chicks and parents and I waited until they were reunited before continuing my walk.
The babies are SUPER CUTE, and many people come to the beach hoping to see them, but it is also super important to be respectful. So please, remember to share the beach and if you like taking photos, that long lens is long so you can stay back. Please be considerate.

If you're wondering how bird feathers are waterproof, meet the preenal gland or uropygial gland. Squeeze it like a zit, and that oil can be used to waterproof your feathers!

MELT.

Know what's exciting? Finding a roseate tern among the common terns!

Here are some terns making some (cute) babies!
Good job, you're doing great

Easiest way to differentiate is that black, super pointy bill on the roseate.

After Nickerson, I stopped at the Oceanside Nature Study Area.
Best sight was a balt eagle being dived by a peregrine AND pursued by osprey.
But also delightful, tree swallows!

I was so excited to have been super patient, listening to what felt like a super close clapper rail. And my patience paid off. I took 40 pictures. This is the only clear one. Go figure.
I love clapper rails, they are so rewarding to see especially just on your own.
I was disappointed to see a photographer using playback to lure the rails out of hiding. It was also frustrating for me, because I realized I kept hearing their playback and not an actual bird. So seeing this bird without using any tools to lure them out was very rewarding and also, just feels so much better to know you aren't bugging the bird.

 On Saturday I went to Plumb Beach while my husband went for a run. Enjoyed a large number of birds, mainly semipalmated sandpipers but also a few others in the mix, like this willet!

A nice comparison. The chunkier, larger bird on the left is (I am fairly sure) a sanderling while the bird on the right is a semipalmated sandpiper.

Another chance to see a clapper rail. Lucky to get this good a look!

Many loaves of semipalmated sandpiper.

Some comical copulation among the laughing gulls.
I'd love to know where their babies are. I bet they too are quite precious.

The whole cheer squad? Perhaps.

Inside the marsh at Plumb were a small group of very handsome semipalmated plovers.  Shore birds are fun to observe as they are very forgiving, they might flush up, but they come right back. If you stay calm, they will practically run over your toes. But it is also important to remember they are on the beach and to not give chase to individuals or destroy their nests.