Sunlight on Perdido Key

I was fascinated by the light on the water today.



I struggled to capture what I was seeing, but failed utterly. I think I need more practice! Of course, I try to limit photos to about 5 to ten minutes our of my nine hour day, so I don't have all that much time to play with except on my days off.



The way the light shone through the crashing waves was just stunning!



I was really at Perdido for a bird survey... again, they were hiding from the cold. I had to look twice at this rock (from about 100 yards away) before I realized it was a gull! He blends in pretty well from a distance!



I ended the day, as usual, at PB8201. This is getting to be a marathon nest, but since sea turtles are reptiles, this cold snap could slow down their development. We'll likely wait til at least 80 days of incubation time before we try to assess the nest. Of course, all this cool weather means the hatchlings that do emerge will most likely be male.

Shorebirds and Shades of Blue

Today was a shorebird survey day near Opal Beach. As usual, the water was just this side of paradise -- it almost made me want to go for a swim!



The pavilions are battered by hurricanes over the past several years, but they are doing remarkably well!



Not many birds were about today though -- it seems they were smarter than I am, and they sought shelter from the chill wind. There were some trusty SNPLs (snowy plovers) on the north shore...



along with a DUNL (dunlin) or two, but it was fairly quiet.

The good thing about this cold weather is that it's preventing the fall red tide bloom from getting out of control, and it should keep any late season storms at bay. See, there is a silver lining in everything!

Pensacola Drifts

It's been rather windy and chilly on Pensacola Beach this week.



There's sand blowing everywhere, making huge drifts that mimic snow. This one reminds me of the Sahara!



In other places, the weight of windblown sand cause mini-sand slides, leaving tiny berms behind.



Of course, our last nest has these issues as well. It's hard to keep ahead of the sand piling on top of PB8201, but it's necessary. Sand is good for insulation on these cold days, but it's also important to keep the eggs from growing too humid, and keep the distance to the surface optimal for the tiny hatchlings who are relying on stored energy from their yolk sacs until the reach offshore waters... We do still hope to see hatchlings here soon!

Shore Birds Seek Shelter!

Today was a very cold day for North West Florida in late October... It was only 41 degrees when I arrived at the fire cache, and there's a freeze warning tonight for inland counties. Unheard of!



I had to really search for the birdies today. They were all seeking whatever windbreak they could from the harsh north wind, like this juvenile ring-billed gull.



These gulls and terns liked the jetty.



The snowy egret did as well...



There were others hiding from the wind over the berm, but I didn't get many photos - my hands were too numb. I did catch this juvenile Herring gull eating a lunch left by a kind fisherman.



I am definitely a warm weather girl... I know, I went overboard with the snowy egret. I couldn't decide on the best photo, and it was nearly all I took pics of today. It was that cold.



It was still beautiful at Pensacola Pass, and it might have been a tad toastier were I in the water instead of driving an ATV!

Fort Pickens, A Different View

After a very cold two hour survey, I needed to get off my ATV and get some exercise so I didn't freeze before heading back east on seven miles of open beach. You may think I'm kidding, but I have a serious issue with temperatures below 80 degrees!



Warming up gave me time to take a look at Fort Pickens...



up close, from many different views...



I love the old brick arches,



that are used both inside and out...



The red brick with green trim is striking...



even in the brilliant sunshine...



and the arches persist throughout.



I have to wonder who built all of them...



And if they have some super-resistance to hurricanes. They sure have stood the test of time! (I know, these look like the same photo, but it's not if you look at the arches in the background. It's just the same window.)



I know the sea wall helps protect the buildings when storms threaten!



This reflection has to be one of my favorite shots. I wish I had captured it better, but with two sets of windows, lots of angles and limited lens options, it was the best I could do!

Piping Plover Surveys at Fort Pickens

Today was a much better day for bird surveys, though it was still a little chilly.



The birds like to point that out as they hide behind whatever windbreak there is on the mudflats. The birds, like this snowy plover (SNPL) have the right idea!



There was one banded piping plover (PIPL) near the asphalt pile,



who seemed to be quite thirsty!



Another was fighting with a sanderling (SAND). Just look at those bright orange legs.



A young eagle (BAEA) hid in the woods,



Brown pelicans (BRPE) floated on the updrafts,



and a sandwich tern (SATE) kept flying away from me. We can't officially count a bird in our survey until we pass it or it flies in the opposite direction. I followed this little guy for nearly two miles as I tried to complete my survey. I keep telling myself it's good for them to fly on cold days - it warms up their chilly muscles!



By the time I headed back east on the south shore of the island, I was running with the wind behind me and the sun was high in the sky. It was a beautiful day indeed!

Storm Weather, Erosion and the Last Nest

It still was not a good day to go count piping plovers in the park, but it was a fine time to check our last loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nest near Park East.



When I was there yesterday, there was roughly 20 feet between the nest sign and the surf. This morning, the egg chamber itself was only six or seven feet from the water!



There was a lot of sand piled on the nest again as well. The sign in the middle is about 4 feet tall!




This poor nest has been through so much, with wind, waves and rain from Faye, Gustav and Ike, and now the weather this week.



It's been chilly and damp as well. All we can do is hope that some of the tiny turtle embryos are strong enough to weather the storms. That should make them great candidates for survival in the wild ocean as well.



It wasn't a good day to drive on the sand either. With so much of it shifting and washed by the waves, it's easy to sink!



Even on a stormy day, Pensacola Beach is simply stunning!

Too Wet and Windy for the Shorebirds Today

Starting today, the 23rd, we're in the 5-day window for PIPL (piping plover) surveys on the north shores of the Perdido Key, Santa Rosa and Fort Pickens areas.



Though the day started with brilliant blue and white skies, it just wasn't fit weather for our feathered friends.



Normally, we'd start at one end of the beach, and count all the shore birds, like this semi-palmated plover, between the first sand bar and the vegetation line on the north shore.



I really tried hard to do that this morning, and had a good time counting birds in the first two miles of Fort Pickens. It was hard to find them though as they all hid from the wind! The photo is a little fuzzy as the birds continually tried to smooth their ruffled feathers.



Once I reached the asphalt pile, it was time to turn back. Though the tide was receding, there was standing water in the road corridor...



And the surf was kicking in the Gulf. I wouldn't mind getting stuck out at the west end of the beach, but I was pretty sure my boss had other tasks in mind before the end of the day. That just gives me a great excuse to head back out to the beach in the morning, as long as it stops raining by then!

(* No, I don't avoid the beach in the rain. That said, it is hard to use binoculars to id shorebirds in a downpour!)

Sanderlings, Yellowlegs and Dunlins, oh my!

Since it's fall, it's time for yet another bird survey. Today I visited the south shore of Fort Pickens, which was overrun with hundreds of sanderlings (SAND)...



There were several yellowlegs (LEYE) hanging around the north shore ponds. Can you tell how they got their name?



From time to time, a dunlin (DUNL) ran about with the sanderlings as well. They're down curved beak and darker coloring are quick cues to their presence in a mass of feeding, or warming, sanderlings and plovers.



There were egrets and herons running around as well...



Most of the day, however, was dedicated to the feeding sanderlings.



They're the little sewing machines of the beach, tearing up the sand as they hunt for tiny crustaceans underneath...



They must swallow lots of sand as well -- just look at that beak! (If you click on the image to enlarge, it's easier to see.)



They pause from time to time when they are rudely interrupted by an approaching wave...



or taking time out for a nap, but these breaks are rare.



Ever industrious, they keep us busy as we try to remember which individuals we've already counted, and which simply won't stay still. Imagine a flock of 70 or so, running back and forth as the waves wash the beach, like little perpetual motion machines. Sometimes the best count we can get is an educated guess!

Shades of Blue, or Just Another Day in Paradise

Fall has definitely brought some beautiful weather to the Gulf Coast.



It's a little chilly in the morning for me, but who can really complain when this is the office?



Just check out all the shades of blue!



There is a little erosion in places, but that's normal this time of year... The gently sloping summer beach will return in time.



Can you see our last turtle nest by the sand fence? We hope it will hatch any day now.



The Blue Angels seem to be enjoying the fall as well.



What a thrill is must be to pilot those planes!

Angels, both Blue and White

The Blue Angels were out this morning during my bird survey, which was good in a way. They kept startling a snowy egret that was feeding near the end of the boardwalks. I've been trying to get a good photo of a SNEG for years, so I took a few shots today. They're pretty awkward when they feed!



There was a landing pose...



a photo-op with the egret finding a fish,



being vigilant,



chasing lunch,



ruffling feathers in the wind,



simply flying (from the scary Blue Angels -- they are loud on Perdido!)



taking off...



trying to walk through the waves (those are large waves for such a slight bird!)



balancing...



posing elegantly mid-flight,



feeding, again..



stalking prey,



hunting even more persistently... ad infinitum. This was one hungry, and co-operative, bird. All these shots were within less than 5 minutes!

A Quiet Day on the Beach

My weekends at the Park are Sunday and Monday, so today is a day off. I took advantage of the free time to actually visit the beach instead of just working on it :)



The post-Ike tide pools were full of water...



Sea oats struggled to regain ground after being wind-whipped, and subject to salt water flooding in recent storms,



new driftwood persists on the beaches



and old forests erode out of the front beach (and serve as great substrate for new marine communities -- check out that algae!)



and help build new primary dunes by trapping sand in their roots.

I can't believe I only have one month left here, on to new adventures yet unknown... I'm really going to miss this gorgeous island!

Crawling Lessons, or .74% Really Can Make A Difference

I think my boss was a little amused when Sally and I brought back just two eggs from the assessment of Santa Rosa 8061 the other day. After candling the eggs, we knew one had stopped developing very early, but one had a rather large turtle in it. We weren't too sure about the little embryo, but kept it safe and warm in the fire cache to give it a chance at survival.



When I returned from a morning bird survey today, I was thrilled to see one little loggerhead crawling around in his cooler full of sand! S/he must be rather lonely without all those siblings. You might be able to see just a tiny bit of his sand covered egg in the photo above.



This little turtle represents 0.74% of the total eggs in the nest -- that's our hatch percentage for this nest. We usually have hatch rates of about 90% or better in relocated nests, so this was strangely low. The tiny loggerhead seemed fine though; in a short time, s/he was trekking around the cooler, dragging a little bit of yolk sac with him.



In a natural nest, it would likely take a day or two for the hatchlings to crawl through the several inches of sand above the egg chamber. These yolk remnants would be absorbed or rubbed off in the rush of tiny turtles attempting to reach the surface. With a hundred hatchlings tripping on each others flippers and stepping on each others heads, there's no way s/he would have emerged with this bit of egg left.



I was inspired while watching this lone ranger wander in his cooler... Normally, s/he would have a hundred more hatchlings crawling around with him. It's a good thing we dug this egg out of the nest on assessment - s/he would have died trying to crawl out of the natural nest on his own, exhausting the energy reserves in his yolk sac, and leaving him/her lacking in resources for the swim through the waves.

We're not sure why 134 of 136 eggs showed no development at all. Perhaps they were infertile. Maybe something happened on day one that stopped all development. Maybe it was too cold or too wet or too dry. There's so much we still don't know about turtles! All we do know is that one hatched, and s/he has no obvious anomalies :)



With just one tiny turtle in the cooler, I was able to get some great shots of s/him learning how to crawl... They're a bit out of focus as I couldn't get in the cooler with my camera, so I had to trust auto focus while the camera was suspended (with the flash off) just above the sand.



First, you reach, stretching as far as your tiny flippers will allow...



then grab a flipper full of sand, (I love how his/her little flipper curls under the layer of sand)



push the sand back while reaching forward with your head and neck,



then repeat! There, now that's easy, isn't it?

One turtle may not seem like much, but who's to say this little loggerhead, representing 0.74% of his nest, might just be the far less than 0.1 to 0.01 percent that survives to maturity? S/he's beaten the odds so far!

Last Nest of the Season

Gulf Islands National Seashore turtle program is down to one final nest, Pensacola Beach 8201. Park VIP Melanie Waite located the nest the morning of August 20th, while doing a very thorough job on the Santa Rosa patrol, overlapping my morning patrol on Pensacola Beach. Melanie does such a great job! I arrived about three minutes after she found the nest, so she didn't even have to call for help assessing whether or not the nest needed to be moved.



Melanie headed off to fill in the data sheet while I searched for the egg chamber. Melanie did take a few minutes to get some great photos of our nest relocation protocol.



Just look at those eggs, nestled snugly in their sandy cradle. Momma didn't crawl very far from the water, but she hit a berm and thought she was on safe, dry ground. In reality, she was only about 5 feet from the previous night's high tide line, so the eggs would not have stayed dry for long if we'd left them in place (in situ).



After documenting how close the nest was to the Gulf of Mexico, all the eggs were gingerly placed in a cooler lined with several inches of sand. It's necessary to be even more gentle with developing sea turtle eggs than you would with a dozen eggs from the grocery store. While they have leathery shells, as opposed to the brittle shells of chicken eggs, a minor jolt could kill a sea turtle embryo in the very delicate first stages of development. That's why only highly trained sea turtle biologists move the eggs, VERY carefully, one at a time...



Then, a new nest location was prepared. I dug an 18-inch deep hole in the sand, shaped like an upside-down light bulb, near the base of the sand fence.



Each egg was then placed in the new egg chamber, in the same position they held in the original nest. Once all 106 eggs were back in the sand, they were covered with several inches of firmly packed sand, and the area was signed to keep beach visitors from disturbing the developing sea turtles. We've waited two months now, and expect hatchlings within the next week or two -- they sometimes develop more slowly when the weather turns chilly!



It's a good thing we moved the nest as Tropical Storm Faye removed that section of the beach just 5 days later. With Gustav and Ike hot on Fayes heels, we were triply happy we moved the nest!

Gustav and Ike deposited an extra two feet of sand on top of the nest, which we carefully swept back to return the nest to more normal conditions. The extra sand could have changed the temperature and/or humidity that the eggs were exposed to, and could have effected their development or survival rate. The nest was also subject to much wave overwash in both storms (though neither hit Pensacola Beach, their effects were widespread!). We don't know how the nest will fare given all the trauma it's been through, but I'm optimistic!



This is the nest today. It's high and dry, but that sand cliff is over 5 feet high... That's quite a drop for the tiny turtles, so we'll be certain to have park staff or an experienced volunteer on hand to help the hatchlings to a safer section of the beach.

There will still be one more sea turtle nest in the neighborhood once this nest hatches. Our good friend Gigi in Navarre Beach still has a nest - from September 7th. Let's hear it for the late loggerheads!

Foggy Morning

The day started gray and dreary, shrouded in mist. Once the sun rose though, the scene changed completely - it was a stunning warm fall day.



I was happy to have some company on the beach this morning from the park. Our program assistant, Rhonda, joined me at Perdido Key for a bird survey. I'm not sure if I bored her to tears or not, but it was nice to have someone to talk to other than the birds. Though they are pretty to look at, they aren't very good conversationalists!

The light early today wasn't very good, so I didn't take many photos, but I still took a few tests shots, just looking for a good image in poor light, or shooting a species we don't have good images of in our files.



This snowy egret almost fades into the sea behind it in the gray morning.



Just a few minutes later, the sun peeked out from behind it's shroud so we could capture some images of dunlin (DUNL) feeding south of Spanish Cove.



An obstinate brown pelican (BRPE) kept trying to balance on the edge of a metal sign. How crazy is that? He wasn't getting a nice nap like his friends on the wood pilings.



Once we reached the east end, the fog and clouds had completely burned away in the midday sun, leaving a perfect view of the Pensacola lighthouse... Just another day in paradise :)

Birds Again!

Winter means birding at the beach, and there are lots of interesting species visiting.



Gulls, like this young Herring gull (HERG), grow more numerous as the chilly weather sets in. Several times a week, we do surveys divided between the south and north shores. Today was time for south shore surveys.



The south shore often has more common species here, though they can be quite beautiful, like this stalking little blue heron (LBHE).



The black bellied plovers (BBPL) were uncharacteristically bold while feeding today -- they must know the weather is predicted to cool down considerably tomorrow.



I never get tired of my RUTUs! Here, a RUTU seems to rule a roost of sanderlings. Not bad work for such a regal looking shorebird!

Nest Assessments and Kemp's ID

Sally and I assessed the next to last loggerhead nest, Santa Rosa 8061, this morning. One hundred thirty-four out of 136 eggs showed no signs of development... That's a lot of hard work for a momma turtle with little discernible result.



Normally, I post lots of photos of my day at work, but that assessment was just no fun. I had to dig 136 eggs out of a two foot deep hole (Gustav and Ike had deposited lots of extra sand on the beach there) and open each egg to determine what happened. The eggs just looked infertile, but it was a depressing, messy job. I don't think I'll ever eat scrambled eggs again!



We do still have one loggerhead egg in a cooler. It still looked viable at the assessment, so we took it back to the office. Sally and I 'candled' the egg -- holding a bright flashlight under it while in a dark room -- to see the embryo inside. It looks a little small, but the shadow of the tiny turtle head was unmistakable. Hope the little guy will hatch in a few more days.



The state also asked us to mail samples from each of our reported Kemp's ridley nests from this season. They seem to think we can't identify the species! Luckily, when we assess nests, we do save at least one hatchling or embryo from each nest (if there's one that didn't survive) for a variety of reasons. They're stored in the freezer until we need them, and today we did. So, I had to find dry ice in Gulf Breeze, which is not an easy task. Eventually, I found some at Winn Dixie and packaged the little critters up for FedEx. It seems strange to me to be able to do that -- in the Caribbean, that would require all kinds of CITES permits and other red tape. Secretly though, I can't wait for the state to call us back and tell us we were right all along!



That leaves just one more nest for this season, Pensacola Beach 8201, which should hatch very soon. After that, my time here will be almost done! Hard to believe a year and a half could fly by so quickly. I'll miss the park tremendously, but I have much more to look forward to back home...



The last nest is another loggerhead... Can you see the difference between the two species (Kemp's are the last three images, the first two images are loggerheads)? I don't know why the state thinks we can't tell.

* update - We didn't have a sample from one of our Kemp's nests as there were no dead hatchlings or unhatched embryos, so we emailed the state photos of those hathclings instead (if you know me, you know I take way too many pictures!). We had an almost immediate species confirmation from the state... After they see the five hatchlings Mark and I mailed, maybe they'll be less skeptical next year!

Shore Birds on the Sea Turtle Maternity Ward

We're still waiting on SR8061, a loggerhead nest with 136 eggs, to hatch. It's not even making noise yet, and it's almost 70 days since it was laid, which is not a good sign. It seems many of our nests got a little more flooding than we thought during Hurricanes Gustav and Ike!



We just want to see about 200 more of these little guys from this nest and the last Pensacola Beach nest...



That said, being out on the beach in the wee hours gives me a great opportunity to catch the sea oats in the light of the full moon...



the full moon as it dips behind a cloud,



and sea oats against the rising sun.

Yes, I know, I should have been out on a bird survey already since the nest was quiet, but I needed better light to tell all the plovers apart!



Today, we added some SEPLs (semi-palmated plovers)



and BBPLs (black bellied plovers) to the mix.



You'll notice many of the birds, including some sanderlings and piping plovers, appear to be one-legged... They're really just fine, but working to conserve a little heat. The flocks of mixed plovers, sanderlings and sand pipers help keep them warm in the cool east wind as well!



Even the Canada geese look lovely in the early morning sun,



though ever they are weary of the noisy ATV. Wish we could do a bird survey from a floating blind!

Fort Pickens is Gorgeous in Fall!

The last Santa Rosa Area loggerhead nest still hasn't hatched, but I could hear the hatchlings this morning. The cool fall weather must be slowing them down a little, but it certainly is making the other animals happy!



This SNPL (snowy plover) seems to find people's footprints a cozy place to hide from the brisk morning breeze. You can even see the toe marks!



The egrets were everywhere this morning, which makes me happy when my camera is ready. This one reminds me of an angel, corny I know, but that's me sometimes.



I really needed a pick-me-up today. Somehow getting out in the field, working with sea turtles and watching shore birds run in the waves takes me away from myself. It's a good thing!



If you've read this blog before, you know I love RUTUs (ruddy turnstones). This little guy is looking for snacks in the pre-Ivan road ruins that were unearthed again when Ike passed by.



It's amazing how much the island can change overnight!



The west end of the island is really shaping up...



The fort looks great...



Some of the buildings even have park staff living in them again, though they need generators for power.



Even the marsh is healthy and full.



It's such a great place to call an 'office'. I'll really miss it here!

PIPLs, SNPLs, WIPLs, et al.

Yes, it was another bird survey day. We have a lot of those in the winter, and yes, for a sea turtle girl, this is officially winter. Once that thermometer hits 80 degrees, it's time for a parka (if you don't believe me, just ask my co-workers...)

A lot of these will seem redundant, but it's time for 'peep' lessons. For today, it's just the following:



SAND (sanderlings)



WIPL (Wilson's plover)



PIPL (piping plover)



SNPL (snowy plover)



with some WILL (willets)



BRPE (brown pelicans)



and GBHE (great blue herons), thrown in for good measure....

Now let's try that again...



Can you tell what's in here? There are just two species...



Here, we have three... It helps to click to see them better, and pay close attention to leg color and their beaks!

I'll try to photograph a north shore survey soon so we can add some to the cast of characters in the park :)

A Distinguished Park Visitor

I was back at Opal Beach today, checking on the same nest from yesterday (still no hatchlings) and doing a bird survey. Can you tell what bird this is that was visiting the park today?

I need a better lens to capture this guy, but I'll work on it. Right now, all I have is a 300 mm, so this is as close as I could get. He kind of belongs in a National Park, doesn't he?

It May Not Look Like Much...

But the damage to this POD door reflects a second ATV theft and a third break-in for the turtle patrol in the Pensacola Beach area this season. How utterly cruel that someone would choose to further jeopardize the survival of already endangered species by interfering with our efforts to protect them...

Our intern, Sally, called me at 0530 this morning to ask if I could bring an ATV to the beach for her. At first, that seemed a little odd as she was calling from a location where we store an ATV to assist with turtle patrol work. Sally hadn't opened the storage unit (in case there were prints) but the lock was obviously gone...

Sally and I waited for park police to arrive to take over the break-in investigation, then we left on a NPS mule to check on a sea turtle nest that still had a screen on it from the night before. The screens keep hatchlings that emerge unattended from wandering north, east or west towards lights from neighboring towns while also keeping ghost crabs, gulls and other predators from reaching the tiny hatchlings. Normally, a nest is only left screened while an intern, volunteer or staff member is away from one nest while checking on others. As this nest was in the middle of the Santa Rosa area, and the road is still inaccessible after new damage from Gustav and Ike, there was no way to get to this nest without an ATV, mule or four-wheel drive. Sally and I were not able to leave the break-in to check on the nest until nearly 7am, which is pretty late for hatchlings!

While en route to the nest, our day got even better... The new mule (with only 210 hours on it) broke a belt, leaving us stranded west of the Opal Beach pavilions, about three miles from the nest and maybe 6 from Portofino. We called Mark to come rescue us with his 4wd, and wandered to the north shore to search for the flamingo while we waited. No flamingo sighting today. Mark drove down to the nest before coming back to help us to be sure no hatchlings were trapped under the screen. None had emerged yet, so we were relieved to know we hadn't caused any tiny turtles undue stress.

Once Mark met us west of Opal, he chained his huge truck to our little mule and tried to pull it out... No such luck. Sally, Michelle (who came along with an ATV to help us get unstuck) and I all tried to push the mule while Mark pulled with his truck. Still no luck. Guess the mule was being as stubborn as, well, a mule...



Happily for us, the road crews have started back to work in the Santa Rosa area. At the moment, they're mostly moving sand and debris from this seasons storms in order to reach the road slated for repairs before Gustav hit. Their big bulldozer was just what we needed -- those huge tires are no match for even the softest sand.

The road crew soon had the mule back on the road, and we chained it to Mark's truck again. He towed us back to the Park East parking lot where Mark, Michelle and I pushed it at a run to get it loaded back on a trailer while Sally steered (no easy task with a trailer about two inches wider than the dead mule), and it was off to Kileys for repairs... All before 9am.

The rest of the day was pretty routine... Bird surveys, funding meetings, and Star awards for Mark, Gary (in the MS district) and yours truly. Want to read what the Chief of Science and Resource Management had to say? It might read well if you double click it, but I just took the photo with my phone, so it's a little fuzzy, and the hatchling numbers are off -- we now have nearly 3800 in the water!




* update: the ATV was found by a visitor on the beach later in the day. Apparently, someone took it for a ride, jumped an erosion bluff and immersed it in the Gulf. It has a lot of salt water damage, but the good guys at Kiley's are fixing it, and the mule...

Perdido Key Saturday

Yes, I've spent a lot of time at Perdido Key this week, often waiting on the sun.



Today, I had to finish the Kemp's stranding from Friday, check on a hatching sea turtle nest and do a quick bird survey.



RUTUs were involved...



There were SNEGs as well (snowy egrets)



and the ubiquitous models, the great blue heron. I never get tired of their statuesque poses.

There was another stranding today as well -- a stunning juvenile green sea turtle over on the Pensacola Naval Air Station that had been sliced by a boat propeller. I always hate those calls, but it's important to learn what we can from an animal, even though it's sad to have such a learning opportunity.


I almost bought a 500mm lens last night, but decided to wait til I know if I have a job in December. I'm just anxious to take better pictures!

Sunrise in the Sea Oats

Again with the sunrise, I know. The only thing missing in my morning ritual lately is a steaming mug of green tea. If only I could figure out how to keep some hot til I drove all the way to PK. With the chill in the air, it would definitely make sunrise a perfect moment.



I never know if I should include disturbing photos like I took today of a stranded Kemp's ridley, so I'm leaving it out for now. It was a sad sight on the east tip of the island, but it's a part of life. It's really sad to lose an adult, knowing how many obstacles they have overcome to reach maturity. To lose an adult Kemp's is sadder still as the species huddles on the brink of extinction. It makes me very happy to know we were able to release over 500 Kemp's hatchlings this summer!



The ruddy turnstones seem to follow my every turn lately. I'm not quite sure what that means, but it's lovely to see them!



Of course, the semi-palmated plovers are back in town as well. Both birds make me think of men in tuxedos for some reason. They just look all dressed up!

A Perdido Key Morning

I often arrive in the park, even at the distant Perdido Key area, well before dawn, and I ride the beach, searching for turtle tracks or hatchlings while waiting for the sun.



The snowy egrets wait with me.



When the sun arrives, it's always the start of a beautiful day!



Even if there are masses of jellies on the beach.



Just how often do you have time, or opportunity, to watch a great blue heron stalk his own shadow?

Opal Beach Birds -- There's More than Just a Flamingo!

The day dawned bright, clear and chilly for the biologists of Gulf Islands National Seashore. It was time for a bird survey on the south shore of the Santa Rosa area today.



There were the usual suspects -- sanderlings, willets, laughing gulls, and brown pelicans.



I had to peek at the north shore as well, to see how morning was going on the marsh.



The little blue herons and reddish egrets were together in one large flock,



though they did separate out.



Check out this feeding posture!

There were lots of piping plovers as well, hanging out about a mile east of Opal Beach. Yes, the flamingo was still there as well.



This is winter habitat for them, and the marshes are a great food source.



Sometimes, I think they come with just a little too much jewelry though.



That yellow flag has to hurt!