Fort De Soto, 5/27/2012

Red Knot

Yesterday I went to Fort de Soto.  It was a consolation prize for having to miss a pelagic trip due to Tropical Storm Beryl.  I successfully avoided the thunderstorms that were predicted for the morning and had a wonderful time.  There were too many highlights for one blogpost, but here are a few.  My favorite moment was seeing many Red Knots--a simply stunning shorebird.

Red Knot

It was also great to watch a Wilson's Plover search for food on the beach.  He caught something a couple times and showed it off to me.

Wilson's Plover

Wilson's Plover

Wilson's Plover

Ruddy Turnstones and Dunlin were also there in their breeding plumage.  A Yellow-crowned Night Heron was out on the beach standing not 10 ft away from me.

Ruddy Turnstone

Dunlin

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

It was also great to see a Sandwich tern, and there were many breeding Least Terns at North Beach.  They are extremely fun to watch.

Sandwich Tern

Least Tern

Here's a list of the species I saw yesterday at Fort De Soto:

Redhead 3
Magnificent Frigatebird 8
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Anhinga 2
Brown Pelican 7
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 5
Snowy Egret 2
Little Blue Heron 1
Reddish Egret 2
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 2
White Ibis 70
Glossy Ibis 2
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey 5
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Black-bellied Plover 3
Wilson's Plover 4
American Oystercatcher 2
Willet 15
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Red Knot 4
Sanderling 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper 5
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 5
Short-billed Dowitcher 2
Laughing Gull 50
Least Tern 5
Forster's Tern 2
Royal Tern 10
Sandwich Tern 2
Black Skimmer 35
White-winged Dove 1
Mourning Dove 3
Common Ground-Dove 7
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Loggerhead Shrike 1
Fish Crow X
Northern Mockingbird 8
European Starling 3
Northern Cardinal 8
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Common Grackle X
Boat-tailed Grackle X