Least Tern Colony News

Look what I found the first thing on my survey of Saturday morning July 23. 

This chick took me by surprise.

I thought that we would be through with the Least Tern project by July 19^th, but these birds won’t quit. They have found a near perfect nesting area and they are going for with all the gusto they can muster. Last week, there were a little over 80 birds still in the two enclosures. 

Adult Least Tern is flying by as a Least Tern chick sits in the shade of a Russian thistle.

The Wilson's Plovers appeared to be finished.  Boy! was I wrong.

Isn't this Wilson's Plover just cute?

Granted there were fewer terns this week. I counted around 50 terns inside the enclosure.  There were more chicks than last week.  I watched as one Least Tern worked on a scrape.

To top that one Wilson’s Plovers was sitting tight on a nest. 

Live and learn. 

Sea Net update

Today was a beautiful day. Where was I? I was inside in a windowless room. Wait! It was a good thing for I learned more about the Seabird Ecological Assessment Network SEANET for short. This was the second meeting to organize a volunteer force for the Georgia coast. Go back in my blog to February 3rd to find out about our first meeting. http://coastalgeorgiabirding-lydia.blogspot.com/2009/02/seanet-comes-to-coastal-georgia.html. It was good to see Dr. Julie Ellis again. This time Julie went over forms and guideline for the surveys.

Here is Julie point out what to look for on the beach

Here is Rebecca Bell of Little Cumberland Island and Julie Ellis talking about the surveys.

We also talked about who was surveying which island.

Here are Stacia Hendricks and Gene Keferl look at the Google Earth and where he will survey.

Jekyll has plenty of coverage with the GA Sea Turtle Center and Jekyll Island 4-H doing the surveys. But what about St. Simons Island. It has a beach. I could walk that beach in under an hour. St. Simons’ East Beach area is a very popular beach. Lot of dogs running around, people thrown Frisbees or playing on this beach and it also has a lot of birds, it is very different from Jekyll and truly different from the more remote barrier island. I wondered about what I will find. This fits nicely into my year of exploring and discovering.

During the afternoon, I got to talk to Marie Procopio of the Tybee Island Marine Science Center. Here is Marie looking at one of the forms. Also in the picture Theresa of Little St. Simons Island and Stefania of the GA Sea Turtle Center

Tybee beach is much like St. Simons beach. There is a causeway out to Tybee Island. There are lots of beach going people. I think we can learn from each other. This kind of communication is so important.

I want to thank both Stacia Hendricks and Terry Norton for bringing us all together.
By the way we did get outside on the beach.

November Art show at Glynn Art Associations

I belong to Georgia Coastal Artists. This is the juried art guild of the Glynn Art Association on St. Simons Island. Every November we have an art show in the Gallery on Mallery. The one requirement is that it is new art.

Lydia with the French Tool Etching Press

I walk everywhere. When I am on one of my walks I look at plants, birds, & bugs. For the last few months I have been walking past a wonderful tangle of grape vines, morning glories, and grasses. Art is a creative process for me. It means I mull and plan and study before I ever get into the studio and my amazing press.

This is what I've been doing to prepare for my new art pieces. I am a printmaker so went by this vine tangle and cut samples of the vines and grasses.

detail of monotype

In my studio I prepare a plexiglass plate by applying inks then I lay some of the vines and grasses on this surface. The 100% rag paper is soaked and ready. It is laid over this the plexiglass. Then form blankets are in place to help cushion the pressure as the plexiglass and paper are pulled under the two roller of the press. An image is created. Well that it is the start of the long process...... Anyway the time in the studio was successful. I now have two new pieces for the art show.

If you are in the area, the opening for the show is this Thursday November 6, at Glynn Art from 5 pm to 7 pm. Come by and see Garden's Bounty & Garden's Delight as well as Cardinal in Blue.

Skywatch and best thought for my birding friends on the Texas Coast

Sharon, aka Birdchick, does a Skywatch Friday blog. I think it is great to see what the sky looks like somewhere else. We birders are always planning our next adventure. My favorite phase is we are all bird gypsies. But today my thoughts are with the folks along the Texas coast. Hurricane Ike is barring down on them. It is a huge strom.

I called to Clay of Swaroski Optic to check in on him for our Georgia's Colonial Coast Birding and Nature Festival and found him with plywood and nails in hand. He and some of my other birding gypsy friends are right in the middle of this storm. To all of you, my thought are with you. Hang in there.

Here are some shots I took today at Gould's Inlet. The Reddish Egrets were fishing as some of the storms were coming through here.