Jan. 22, 2012 - St. George Island State Park

One of our favorite places to visit when we are in Florida is St. George Island State Park. At the park this year I was able to photograph some Black Skimmers. They have a very unique beak; the upper mandible is shorter than the lower one. They fly just above the surface of the water with their beaks open: lower mandible in the water and the upper one above the water. When they make contact with a small fish, the upper mandible snaps down to trap the fish.

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This photo shows the difference in length of the upper and lower mandibles. Seen from the side, the bill looks thick and very sturdy. However, as the photo on the right shows, it is quite thin and knife-like. Several years ago, some Black Skimmer photos that I took showed me how different the front and side views appeared. It was so interesting that I have since made an effort to get front and side views of all the birds I photograph. I call these my “mug shots” and have a special gallery of them on my web site. Here’s a link to those photos. http://www.earlorfphotos.com/Did-You-Know/Bird-Mug-Shots/6582548_H3z566#!i=419243230&k=NUHjj

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Many Minnesotans wouldn’t recognize this as our state bird, the Common Loon. We’re used to seeing them with their striking black and white breeding plumage. During the winter, our lakes freeze over; loons migrate to coastal areas where they are seen in drab, gray, non-breeding plumage like this one.

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Here’s a photo of a Common Loon in flight. We see lots of loons here in Florida during our winter stay. I have seen them feeding in groups of 200 or more birds.

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As we walked along the beach we found many dead Sea Stars. A storm that passed through a day earlier might have caused them to be washed ashore. I did some reading about Sea Stars and found out that there are over 2000 species in the world. Many people call them Starfish, but they really aren’t fish; they are echinoderms, related to Sea Urchins and Sand Dollars. Most people know that a Sea Star can regenerate an arm that is broken off. I also found out they can live up to 35 years. You are seeing the underside of this one; the little tube feet can be seen in the middle of each arm.

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This Red-breasted Merganser was swimming off shore. They always look like they are having a bad hair day.

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Ruddy Turnstones are found here in the winter. In spring, they will fly to the high Arctic tundra to nest and raise their young.

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