Thursday's Bird Ramble group went out to check on the area. It was amazing the number of birds that were out there. One of my volunteers was out doing an Operation Plover Patrol beach surveys. He was down the way a bit so we did not disturb him. We found the first pair of plovers or should I say the male Wilson’s spotted us and began to attract our attention when another male Wilson’s came over. They did do a little sparing and then settled back down. Our attention was divided between the large number of gulls, terns and shorebirds resting beyond Jim the volunteer and looking for the Wilson’s. We did locate one nesting plover sitting on a nest.
We then moved down the beach and watched the main flock. We had skimmers, Forster’s Terns, Royal Terns, Laughing, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls plus a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Mixed into those birds were Dunlins, and Sanderlings. Two Least Sandpipers landed with 30 feet of us.
When we finally got up to Jim, he was almost finished with his two hour survey period. He pointed out the American Oystercatchers. He also told us there had been two Wilson’s near him during the survey period but had lost them. Two of my groups were looking for the birds and they located them up in the dunes well inside the fencing. The Wilson’s pair was mating. They will be nesting soon. There is even a pair of Eastern Willets flying around looking for a territory. In years past the Willets have failed when they attempted to nest. This year they might succeed. So nesting season on Jekyll is off to a good start.
We then moved down the beach and watched the main flock. We had skimmers, Forster’s Terns, Royal Terns, Laughing, Ring-billed and Herring Gulls plus a couple of Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Mixed into those birds were Dunlins, and Sanderlings. Two Least Sandpipers landed with 30 feet of us.When we finally got up to Jim, he was almost finished with his two hour survey period. He pointed out the American Oystercatchers. He also told us there had been two Wilson’s near him during the survey period but had lost them. Two of my groups were looking for the birds and they located them up in the dunes well inside the fencing. The Wilson’s pair was mating. They will be nesting soon. There is even a pair of Eastern Willets flying around looking for a territory. In years past the Willets have failed when they attempted to nest. This year they might succeed. So nesting season on Jekyll is off to a good start.
No comments:
Post a Comment