Jan. 24, 2016 - Birds at St. George Island State Park

Diana and I are spending January and February again on St. George Island in northern Florida. About 1/3 of the 20-mile island is a state park. Last Sunday I hiked along the beach at the park looking specifically for this bird, a Snowy Plover. It’s a small bird, only 6¼ inches long. The Gulf Coast is one of the wintering areas in the United States for Snowy Plovers. Some stay here year-round and others migrate to inland lakes in the southwestern U.S. to breed.

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During my hike, I also photographed several other species of birds. This is a Semi-palmated Plover. At 7¼ inches long, it’s slightly bigger than the Snowy Plover. The East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast are all wintering areas for this species. However, for the breeding season, they migrate to the far northern tundra areas of North America.

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I was a little surprised to find this Sanderling sitting motionless on a pile of seaweed. Most of the Sanderlings I see are very active, like little wind-up toys. They chase the waves in and out, probing the sand for things to eat. Sanderlings are 8 inches long.

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This Ruddy Turnstone was probing in the sand so its beak is covered with fine white grains of sand. This Turnstone is in non-breeding plumage; it will look very different when it changes to breeding plumage. Here’s a link to some photos I took showing the dramatic transformation. http://www.earlorfphotos.com/Pictures-of-the-Week/2014-Pictures-of-the-Week/4-6-14-East-and-West-Birds/

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It was very windy the day of my hike. This Great Blue Heron had its feathers flying in all directions, courtesy of the wind.

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