I was out two times this week to look for birds.

Friday September 25, Breanna and I conducted an International Shorebird survey. There were lots of shorebirds gathered up in the wrack. We were fortunate to see two Piping Plovers. One was banded with color bands. On the left leg there was one orange band. On the right leg there was a metal band above the knee and a green band below the knee. I am excited to learn more about this little banded bird.

We also found one Common Tern among the Royal Terns.



On Sunday September 27, I joined a group of women who have known each other since the grade school.












We were going out to the beach but the tide was extremely high. We did find a Reddish Egret enjoying the surf. Then we walked up to 4th street to see the egrets and ibis.

 We also discovered some tiny frogs. You never know what you are going to discover when you get outside. To quote Bilbo Baggins, "It is a danger business stepping out your door. Step out on the road you don't know where you'll be sweep off  to."

 Katherine, my Grandniece is working on an school assignment called "concentrating." This was a perfect walk for her to spend some time discovering nature.

This time it is a white phased Reddish Egret

Ok enough already.  Another Reddish Egret shows up on the south end of Jekyll aka Jekyll Point.  Just because I said it was a rare bird here and then two are here last week then this week a white phased bird shows up…. UNCLE!   

Here is a picture with Sanderling, Snowy Egret and then Reddish Egret

Really, what it does tell me is to remain flexible.  Reddish Egrets are found on the Georgia coast.  In some places like Little St. Simons Island (LSSI) they are to be expected.  It isn’t that far from LSSI to Jekyll Point, so there should be no surprise.   

I enjoyed watching the bird strut and dance. It also kept me around long enough to see two banded Piping Plovers.

You just never know what you are going to find when you go out birding. 

About a month ago, I told Ben Carswell that Reddish Egrets were a rare bird on Jekyll. Well, just don’t challenge mother nature. She will just prove you wrong. So why was I surprised when I found not one Reddish Egret but two at the south end of Jekyll. Here, are a few pictures of the egrets.

 

Also on the beach were gulls, Lesser Black-backed Gull,

Herring Gull, Ring-billed Gull and the ever-present Laughing Gull.  Here is a young Laughing Gull.

It certainly is fun just to stand out there for a couple of hours and watch the shorebirds, terns and gulls.

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.