Bob's Gone Birding: Another Shorebird Season

Roseate Spoonbill

This summer has been a series of annoyances that have kept me out of the field. Issues with my back topped off with a miserable head cold have resulted in too much time spent on my couch. But everything seems to be getting resolved at the same time, so it was enormous pleasure that I headed out yesterday for only the third serious birding effort since my the end of June.

As I noted some time ago, I'm making a concerted effort to learn as much as I can about shorebirds. Sometimes it seems that the little critters simply defy identification. Two things work against me. First, we tend to see most shorebirds only as they pass through Florida and so they are here infrequently and in a drab plumage. That combined with my own lack of experience and knowledge is a bad combination. All too often, my "identifications" are prefaced by, "I think that's a ... " However, a world-class birder once wrote that the difference between a beginner and an expert is 10,000 mistakes. Based on that assessment, I made significant progress along the learning curve at Cedar Key yesterday.

Click on this to enlarge it. I think they're all Semipalmated Sandpipers.

My first stop was at Shell Mound, just north of Cedar Key. I hopped out of the car before even reaching the parking lot in order to get a good view of a Roseate Spoonbill feeding with a Willet just a few feet away. After admiring them for a bit, I looked further out and saw hundreds of peeps. Unfortunately the silvery sand and the shallow waters of low tide created quite a glare. That made picking out small details or photographing them quite difficult. As far as I could tell, they were all quite similar. I saw dark legs; dark, straight bills; white throats; and some streaking in the upper breast and flanks, but none beyond the legs. So, Semipalmated Sandpiper, right?

I continued into the parking lot and scanned the sandbars and oyster beds. There were a few Black-bellied Plovers in gorgeous breeding plumage and some Short-billed Dowitchers. At least I assumed they were Short-billed. There were about eight, and I looked at all of them. I saw no structural differences in the shape of their backs, all were flat. And I saw no differences in the amount of barring along the flanks.

Gray Kingbird

Meanwhile, I was really entertained by watching the Black Skimmers swooping low over the water while feeding between the sandbars. I never fail to stop and watch them. It's a scene that is both ancient and elegant, and one worth appreciating. While I was admiring them, an American Oystercatcher zoomed by, the only one of the day.

A brief stop at the campground yielded more peeps, and again they all appeared to be Semipalmated Sandpipers. Here at least I was able to get a few fuzzy photos that were somewhat helpful for studying later last night. Undaunted, I decided to pack up and head into town. Perhaps there would be more shorebirds in the mudflats east of town.

No such luck. The mudflats were empty. I guess the tide was too low and the shorebirds were well away from the road. Still, the drive in yielded about a baker's dozen of Gray Kingbirds. Despite the glaring gray skies behind them, I was able to get a couple of photos because the birds were so cooperative. They simply ignored me as I crept closer and closer trying to get a usable shot with my little camera. You can be the judge of how successful I was.

Hey dude! Got any food?

The absence of shorebirds led me to see if any warblers were around. This is not the best time of year for warblers in Cedar Key, but I thought it might be worth a try. Unfortunately the birds didn't cooperate. I found one female Prairie Warbler at the cemetery. But while I was there, I had the feeling I was being watched. I looked around and found a raccoon creeping up toward me, eventually hiding behind a pine and peeking out at me. Cute little guy!

After lunch I made one last effort to find some shorebirds by driving over toward the airport. There is a small area along the way where they can sometimes be found along the road or gathered on a series of old piers. What I found were mostly terns including Royal, Forster's and Sandwich Terns. The really funny thing was that they all appeared to be singing. Maybe it was karaoke night and they were getting warmed up? I assumed they were singing "Tern Tern Tern" by the Byrds? What, too cheesy? Anyway, the terns were joined by a few Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, and Laughing Gulls while a lone Spotted Sandpiper patrolled the beach.

So it wasn't a particularly spectacular day, but it had its moments -- and I wasn't confined to bed or a couch. Sounds like a good day to me.