The hotel on St. Paul, the rather gloriously named King Eider Hotel, is connected to the airport buildings and is rather 1980’s in décor but functional. After checking in we were keen to head into the field and spent a couple of hours birding Ridge Wall, east facing cliffs in the south-west of the island. […]
Tag: Semipalmated Plover
Fort De Soto Park Spring Migration: Pt I
A trek to Fort De Soto Park in Pinellas County is especially rewarding during migration season. Fort De Soto is a magnet for birds. In fact there have been 337 species sighted at the park and reported to eBird as of this writing. Ron Smith has noted that a Western Grebe was observed and photographed […]
Reddish Egret at Fort De Soto
Last week my wife decided it might be fun to go to the beach on the Gulf coast (calmer waves), and she asked me if there was a good place there go visit. Fort De Soto, of course! So yesterday we spent the day there. My father and I got there early to do some […]
Florida’s Little Plovers
Since I moved to Florida and became interested in birding, I’ve wanted to get good photos of all the little plovers that show up in Florida on a regular basis. I found most of these plovers without much trouble, but Snowy Plovers have eluded me. They’ve been somewhat of a nemesis bird for me, until […]
Marl Bed Flats, 5/22/2014
Yesterday morning I visited Marl Bed Flats again. I’m pretty amazed at how good this place has been in May. It’s given me several Seminole County firsts, including a Short-billed Dowitcher, Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper and now a Semipalmated Plover. Black-necked Stilts are still here, though in much smaller numbers; now only about 4 remain […]
BioLab Road on Merritt Island
I found all the normal wading birds and shorebirds on Bio Lab Rd today. Wading bird highlights were the normal herons and egrets, both ibises, and Roseate Spoonbills. We also had a fair share of Stilt Sandpipers, both Dowitchers, both Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers, and Least, Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers. I also found a small flock […]
Semipalmated Plover, North America’s Chidori
Many years ago when I was stationed in Japan I heard a koto musician play a piece called “Chidori,” which means plover in Japanese. The story behind this haunting music is of a Samurai walkinghis guardpost on a castle wall….at dawn he sees a lone plover on the shore and feels a kinship with the […]