Ramble 9-13-07 birding

We did something a little different on Thursday. I met two long time Ramblers earlier than normal. Instead of meeting on Jekyll, we met at Gisco Marina Road which is just off US 17 on the causeway . It was a great idea. The shorebirds were around the marsh and pond there. There was a good group of Blue-winged Teal. Among all these birds there was one dowitcher that caught my attention. At first I thought it was a Stilt Sandpiper. I was so excited but the more I looked and moved around to get a better looks at it. It just was not the right shape. It was feeding with two Short-billed Dowitchers. This bird was the same size and shape but it was very pale. It did not have the brown bib instead it was very white from the chin to the under tail coverts. The back was about two shades lighter. The bill was about same length. It looked like a pale Short-billed Dowitcher. Hum? I love birds like this for they make us think and it keeps us on our toes.
We finally tore us ourselves away from shorebirds, heron, egrets and spoonbills. We moved on to the southend of Jekyll. The mosquitoes greeted us and stayed with us as we walked us out to the dunes. There were quite a few Eastern Kingbirds flying around. I kept hearing Bobolinks with one step about 15 flew off, a few landed in the bushes silhouetted against the sun. It seemed to the problem of the day. The birds were playing hide & go seek. We had a Tennessee Warbler play peak a boo in a bush. Out on the beach there were good numbers of Royal Terns and Laughing Gulls peppered in were Caspian Terns, Sandwich Terns and a surprising large number of Common Terns.

At one point I counted 60 Common Terns. Standing tall in the mix were three Lesser Black-backed Gulls. We also had 7 Red Knots with a Semipalmated Sandpiper, 5 Western and a few Leas Sandpipers. Black Skimmers were chatting back and forth. But it was very hot so we moved on to the Campground where we spend the rest of the morning.