Monday of this week I met my sis and brother in law for a few days of camping at Huntington Beach SP on the coast! We all wanted to enjoy some fall birding.
The sea grass is such a pretty color this time of year when the sun's out.
A still Belted Kingfisher
SO many Wood Storks, and we saw a lot of Spoonbills also
all looking the other way...
And Great Egrets...
...eating a huge amount of Mullet the jumping fish!
Each time we were out there we kept seeing the fish jump out of the water and some would skip themselves like stones, I tried to catch one up in the air but I kept getting this...
You can see the challenge...
And the Great Blue Heron was also gorging on fresh fish...
Enjoyed seeing the White Ibis, and the Little Blue Heron.
plenty of Double Crested Cormorants
An overlooked beauty of a fisherman....
Another one down the hatch!
an unusual number of Clapper Rails were poking around the Oyster beds...
This Tri-Colored Heron was the most obliging of all...
And then there was shore birds!
Short Billed Dowitcher
also Dunlin with the shorter bill
we had Western Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers,
Western Sandpiper,
And the legs are so muddy but we went with Least on these although I thought they could be Semipalmated Sandpiper...
Black Bellied Plover,
This is my Site in the campground I took my screen room since I had the dogs with me, we had a Raccoon rummage thru our belongings and I had left their Glucosamine tabs in there and he stole them! And turned over the basket of pots, I took these next photos with my cell phone they are pretty Lame! That Marsh area is only a short walk on a trail through these woods from my site.
It was late in the afternoon tho...right about Supper Time!
Veggie Kabobs, really delicious my compliments to the chefs!
I will finish up in my next post as this one is already late publishing!
so more to come of the birds we saw!
See ya Next Friday!
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
So glad you had such a wonderful trip. Lots of gorgeous birds. Campsite looks good to bad about the raiding bandit.
ReplyDeleteHi Jo, I tried to be so careful and not leave anything out that would attract a raccoon, but the dogs supplement tabs got left in the pot basket, so he had to come in and go thru it...and he stole those and they are not cheap to replace!
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great spot for camping and birding. I love all the Wood Storks and the Spoonbills. The Western Sandpiper is adorable. Great variety of birds. Your veggie kabobs look yummy. Great post and photos. Happy Birding, enjoy your weekend.
HI Eileen, it was a perfect get away for us all...the birds and the good food a bonus for sure...have a great weekend yurself.
DeleteI can sense how much you enjoyed this trip, so good to get away in the van.
ReplyDeleteThose mullet can get huge and they love brackish water . Before they built the barrage in Cardiff Bay we used to get them coming up river on a high tide and they were big.
Lots of good food, family, birds, and camping, what more can you ask for.
Exactly Dave, it was the best of all worlds! Its been so long since I camped in my van I was very rusty for sure...Wish it could have been for longer. Those Mullet can really jump and some were quite large, there is gator and all sorts of birds depending on them as a food source. Hope your weekend has been a good one.
DeleteYou got some amazing birding! What a lovely time. Except for the stinking raccoon -- those animals are way too smart for their own good. Thanks for the wonderful pictures. I've been missing birds lately.
ReplyDeleteHi Sallie, glad you are back in the loop missed your posts. I Sure enjoyed this time on the coast I hope I can go back and do some day trips too...it's not that far away from me.
DeleteThank you for sharing these lovely photographs from your trip, it sounds an excellent time away, and you certainly saw a good variety of birds.
ReplyDeleteHave to say those veggie kabobs look delicious :)
All the best Jan
Hi Jan, that is the only big get away I had all year..actually in 2 yrs...so I totally enjoyed it. I got carried away with the bird photos and have more coming...lol
DeleteTC