Tern Around

I think this is a Tern, in my little book I thought it looked like the Least Tern, but the book shows it being in Florida in the summer (not winter) and that it's endangered - so I really am not sure.  I love its little scissortail, lol.

It's a petite little thing, whatever it is.

Seems I keep using the gulls for a size comparison, but there were a lot of gulls everywhere so they make convenient rulers.  I love shorebirds!

Warmer days

Ruddy Turnstone

As we were walking along the beach we stumbled, almost literally, across this feeding flyer. I think you can tell he's pretty small if you look at the size of shells against him.

As is typical of many of the birds I came across in Florida, I was clueless as to his name. I thought he looked a lot like a killdeer so I was assuming he was in the plover family.

Well I finally put an identity to him. He's a Ruddy Turnstone, aka Rock Plover. According to my bird book they can be very tolerant of humans when feeding and that was the case here.

I was astonished at how close I was allowed to get!

Bye!

Pinchy Macro Monday

I like crabs as long as I know where they are, not so sure of them when I stumble upon them though.

This one didn't bother me at all, but this isn't exactly how I found it though.

Yep, this is how I found it. Haden turned it over for me. lol

Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, post it on your blog and come back here and sign MckLinky.  Don't forget to visit each other.  :)

Beach Bums

I think I need to spend more time on the beach. ;0) I love how his eye is closed here. It seems dreamy.

So, I think he's too big to be a Spotted Sandpiper but I'm not really sure what he is. Any ideas?

Have a closer look.

Slightly smaller than a gull, but not as small as a sandpiper.

I think he's cute no matter what he is.

Tiny Sandpiper.

Remarkable how similar their colors are and structure, almost look like a mom and a babe but I don't think they are.

Some sort of Tern?

Feathered Treasures

You know I love birds, right? I hope you do too, because I have tons of bird photos from our Florida trip! This Ring-billed Gull looks just like the gulls I see up in Wisconsin. But I couldn't resist him anyway.

Some sort of sandpiper - the pipers totally intrigued me. They are so small and active!

See, tiny! The gull looks like a giant compared to him! The Ring-billed stands 19" tall with a 4' wingspan.

La-ti-da-ti-da, I'm just walking along. . .

Looks like Mr Gull found a snail for a snack.

Laughing Gull was laughing, lol.

The pipers run toward the water, eating something deep in the sand and then run away from the incoming waves.  They were very fun to watch!

While I was caught up in birds, the guys were seeking treasures of a different kind.

I got temporarily distracted by things washed ashore.

But it wasn't long until the birds stole my attention once more.

Is that Gulf or Golf?

We would have liked to see more sunshine while we were there. But any sunshine is more than Wisconsin gets this time of year, lol.

Can you tell where we were by this photo? I don't mean Florida, but where in Florida. Nah, probably not. We were in Daytona Beach, at. . .

Yep, minigolf, seems we're drawn to this chain. We've played in Missouri, Wisconsin, Maine, and now Florida.

I love palms!

I used the little camera a lot more on this trip. I just didn't feel like lugging the big guy everywhere and don't really plan on printing, so.

After mini-golf the guys took a dip. Uh, it was really windy, and cold, that's why they're alone in there. Most hotels didn't even have their pools open, lol.

Beyond the pool was the beach and ocean, ah, beauty!

The only reason we stayed the night in Daytona Beach was that we wanted to see the rocket launch at 4 am. Well, we ran out on our balcony and waited. . .tick, tock, tick, tock. . .finally the time passed for launch so we turned on the tv - cancelled, well postponed and we couldn't hang out waiting another night. Since we were already up, we packed up and headed for the everglades.

Hiked a wee bit with Chris and her boys. :)

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