Today's Beach Finds - the Birds!

Florida has shells and it has birds! I fell in love with them from the moment I went to the shore. It was important to me to learn what I could about them all. I will share some of what I have learned here! 

Great Blue Heron

Pelicans, gulls, ......Coquina Beach

The Great Blue is fun to watch. They are very patient birds for it takes quite some time to get that fish in the water or lizard in the bush. They are large with up to a 6 foot wingspan. They favor all the fisherman and are usually treated with a morsel from them.

I have some favorite areas on my morning walks and the piers of Coquina Beach are truly beautiful and usually remote. Birds galore as well as shells and fishing boats. There is always something to see.

Turkey Vultures on the beach?!

Turkey Vultures are scavengers. They find food using their keen eyes and sense of smell, flying low enough to detect the gases produced by the process of decay in dead animals.
I am sure there must have been something dead on the beach that they were after or they would not have been there!

American Oystercatcher

The American Oystercatcher was a surprise bird! I wondered what it was when I took the picture. It is large (18"-19") and skittish. It has a bright red beak and a red ring around its eye. It uses its bill to pry open shellfish and dig in the sand for insects and worms. They can actually shatter a shell with their bill!

Hope you are enjoying all of my shared tidbits! I would like your comments and followings. Please take time to join or follow this site.