Going back in Time….
6/5/24 Jacksonville, FL: Again at the beach colony, we caught the new Brown Pelican chicks out. So much fun to watch. The Least Tern chicks, some still huddled at their nest site, were a bit distant and tiny in comparison but also so amazing to see. (In the first LETE image, the facing adult peered down at 2 speckled eggs in a nest depression and proceeded to sit on them.)
6/5/24 Jacksonville, FL: Laughing Gull feeding new chicks with drool meals, Royal Tern youngsters, a Sandwich Tern pair in breeding plumage interacting with a fish present, Willet pair, American Oystercatcher , and a lone Red Knot in breeding plumage (flew off and we could not find again).
6/2/24 Okefenokee NWR, GA: We spent a beautiful few hours at the swamp, seeing and hearing more than we caught with the camera. However, the Bachman Sparrow gang was hanging out for us like a welcoming committee. Some were on the road with young ones and others popped up right beside the camera! Also: Eastern Kingbird , juvenile Eastern Bluebird , Pine Warbler , Red-headed Woodpecker and Red-cockaded Woodpecker , and a distant Red-shouldered Hawk .
5/31/24 Jacksonville, FL: We had to go back to the colony and see the happenings (and returned again 6/5 to catch more of the first hatchlings) The Brown Pelican nests are farther away from the protective ropes this year, though it was still fun to see the BRPE back nesting. There was movement already in some of the nests, but the chicks were too buried to really see well. (We could see some of the little naked BRPE chicks on 6/5! So cute!) Some Laughing Gull chicks were being fed regurgitated fish while some adults were still searching for nest material. Shown: Brown Pelican , Laughing Gull .
5/31/24 Jacksonville, FL: We had to go back to the colony and see the happenings: Willet at sunrise , Wilson’s Plover , a sneaky Clapper Rail , Great Egret at sunrise , the Royal Tern colony with at least 10 visible chicks, Common Grackle , American Oystercatcher on nest , and a late/lost/young? Black-bellied Plover .
5/24/2024 Jacksonville, FL: It was gorgeous at the beach and spring activity was popping. American Oystercatcher (digging nest holes together and moving shells around), Brown Pelican (bathing, others were sitting on fine nests), Least Tern (fish were being presented to mates, others were on nests), Laughing Gull (gathering sticks, and most on nests – First Pic: note the empty egg shell in front of the nesting bird), and an image capturing just a bit of the Royal Tern colony .
5/24/2024 Jacksonville, FL: A Willet pair had already had their chicks and we found one young one being herded away from the road by a parent. Also: Wilson’s Plover posing and catching a fine breakfast.
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