Sights of Summer

It has been a hectic and strange summer, as well as a hot one.  I've been getting out whenever I can, and, fortunately, there are always plenty of interesting birds and other wildlife to see.  Here are some sightings from the last few months!

Sanderlings generally depart from their wintering grounds for the Arctic by the end of spring, and that was technically still the season when I saw this bird foraging along the shore.  If you compare the plumage of this bird to Sanderlings in some of my other posts, you’ll see how much richer and redder it is: breeding plumage.

Sanderling

Ruddy Turnstones easily beat it in flashiness, though: caramel brown, black, and white.  A palette like turtle ice cream, maybe, but it stands out against the beige and gray of the sand and mud.

Ruddy Turnstone

A lone Reddish Egret has a fierce appearance, which befits its predatory nature.  Imagine being a fish and that yellow eye being one of the last things you see before going down the egret's gullet!  

Reddish Egret

Although far from rare, the Gull-billed Tern is generally one of the less commonly seen resident tern species around here.  It has a distinctively thick, black bill and narrow, pale wings.  This one went through an entire preening session as I watched it.

Gull-billed Tern

Avian migration seems never to end on the coast, and it could be argued that it truly doesn't.  Even in late June, the middle of summer for the Southeast, it's not uncommon to find migratory shorebirds, such as the boldy patterned American Avocets.  These three individuals appeared to be striking poses against the waves as the sun set that evening.

American Avocets

Of course, beaches attract more than just seashore species.  Eurasian Collared-Doves drop down on occasion to scavenge what they can from the sand and debris.

Eurasian Collared-Doves

Fish Crows are far better adapted to wetland habitats than the Collared-Doves are, so it's less of a surprise to see them walking there.  This individual crow examined the seashore debris closely and methodically before flying back in the direction of the city.

Fish Crow

Away from the shore, in the brackish bayous and marshes, a different species community exists.  This is where I sometimes hear and see secretive Clapper Rails.  This one had temporarily left the dense cover of the marsh grasses to wade in the shallows in a small clearing.

Clapper Rail

The usual wariness of these birds (and many other animals in the area) makes sense when you consider the predators that they need to evade in order to eke out a living in their marshy home.  This means that the alligators, too, have to operate through stealth.  When summer is over and late autumn's cooler weather eventually rolls in (if it ever does), these gators may become dormant, emerging only on warmer days.

American alligator

Regardless of the weather, it's a joy to be out in nature.  Hopefully, the conditions will improve a bit as we transition into August.

A Nature Stroll for a Birder's Soul

What’s your favorite cure for the winter doldrums?  I can’t settle on one answer, but, as you might guess, among my top choices would be a trip to Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge.  I visited that area on the drab and overcast afternoon of December 30.

The Bluff Lake Boardwalk was the first stop.  Kinglets, wrens, chickadees, and Yellow-rumped Warblers called and flitted about in the thickets and cypress trees.  A surprisingly unperturbed Hermit Thrush watched me from some low branches near a Smilax vine.  Hermit Thrushes are fairly common in these types of habitats, but they generally don’t make themselves as obvious as this bird did.

Hermit Thrush

The boardwalk winds through some of the woods on the north side of Bluff Lake, ending at an observation deck that provides views of the egret rookery.  Most of the egrets have migrated south and won’t be back until spring, so the main attractions right now are the waterfowl and the Bald Eagles.  I saw cormorants, coots, Pied-billed Grebes, and some distant Mallards, but no eagles.  However, an Anhinga swam lazily by, demonstrating why it is also called “snakebird.”  Anhingas lack waterproof feathers and are not particularly buoyant, so their bodies tend to stay submerged.  This one resembled a miniature Loch Ness Monster. 

A swimming Anhinga

From the Bluff Lake Boardwalk, I went to Webster Memorial Grove.  There is a short woodland trail and an observation deck over part of Loakfoma Lake.  Gloomy clouds hung low in the sky, portending rain.  Although this is not always a very productive spot, there were blackbirds and Canada Geese flying overhead, a Barred Owl hooting from the woods, and a Common Yellowthroat darting around in the reeds.

Loakfoma Lake

After spending about twelve minutes at Webster Memorial Grove, I went to Cypress Cove Boardwalk, which is on the west side of Bluff Lake.  There were only a few ducks and coots on the water, but that might have been because a Bald Eagle—an apex predator—surveyed the area from a cypress snag.  The eagle was actually preening when I arrived, and seemed more relaxed than watchful.  Still, I suspect that waterfowl don’t like to take too many chances around eagles.  

Bald Eagle

American alligators were the other apex predators putting in appearances that afternoon.  These two medium-sized ones were basking on logs near the lake edge, adding yet another slight undercurrent of danger to the scene.  Alligators are fascinating animals, but you should never be too complacent around them, especially if you see them in an area where people congregate on a regular basis.  The more accustomed they are to humans, the more dangerous they can be.  Fortunately, the boardwalks at Noxubee NWR are pretty safe spots to watch them.

Alligators basking

As the daylight waned, hundreds of Double-crested Cormorants came in to roost.  In the photo below, you can see one cormorant flying, while the others appear as dark specks in the background trees.  I made one last stop at Goose Overlook, also on the west end of Bluff Lake, to see the Canada Geese, Mallards, blackbirds, and sparrows that are usually present during the winter.  After that, it was too gray and dim to see much of anything, so I headed out, feeling refreshed in the soul. 

Double-crested Cormorants roosting in cypress trees

Photo Essay from the Coast

My family and I spent a few days on the Mississippi coast last month, mainly to enjoy the wildlife and scenery.  The cool sand made walking up and down the beach a pleasant experience, although the water was a bit too cold for wading.  The birds, including Great Blue Herons, Laughing Gulls, Forster’s Terns, and sandpipers, never minded this, however.  Credit this to the retia mirabilia (https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/rete-mirabile) in their feet, which are basically heat exchange systems of blood vessels.

Laughing Gull flying over Great Blue Heron.

Laughing Gulls and Forster's Terns (one of which is clearly visible on the right) congregating.

Even though the temperature was slightly low, there were plenty of reminders that it was indeed mid-March.  Hot-pink azaleas seemed to be one of the most common shrubs (after wax myrtle, yaupon, and privet, I’d say) in both town and rural environments.  The color of the blooms really “popped” against the typical backdrops of sandy soil and live oak leaves.

Azaleas

But we didn’t spend all of our time at the beach; the Pascagoula River Audubon Center provided us with great opportunities for walking and observing coastal plants and animals.  

Spreading leaves of palmettos

Near one of the trails, which was flanked by stands of wax myrtle, yaupon, and palmettos, a fledgling Great Horned Owl peered out from its perch in a tall pine tree.  Like many of the Great Horned Owls on the Gulf Coast, the pair that had produced this young bird had nested on a wooden nesting platform that had originally been made for Ospreys.  I took several photos of the fledgling.

A huge bird, even if not yet fully-grown.

"Who?" -- looking indignant, as owls tend to do.

Look at the finely-barred adult feathers replacing the downy juvenile ones.

Still looks fierce!

I saw one of the adult owls—probably the female, as I was informed by the staff at the center—in another pine around a hundred feet or so from the nest site.  As you can tell from the pictures, adult owls are sleeker—without downy feathers—and have larger ear tufts than the juveniles.

Mama owl quietly keeping watch.

A view of the vegetation and water.

Even though the Great Horned Owls had taken over the nest platform for the time being, there were still plenty of potential nesting sites for the Ospreys in the area.  I saw three of these graceful raptors flying over the river while I was at the Audubon center.  They are quite common in coastal regions, and their high-pitched, piping calls—which seem somewhat incongruous in such large birds—carry well and help me to know that they’re nearby even when I don’t see them.

Osprey in flight.

Circling around!

Ospreys are also sometimes called “sea eagles,” but there are actually Bald Eagles on the coast, as well.  I tried to snap pictures of this adult one as it flew over the Audubon building.  You can see the white head and tail, at least.

Bald Eagle flying over.

Gulf Islands National Seashore was another stopping place.  The coastal scrub and marshes provide habitat for numerous species of wildlife.  I heard Clapper Rails and saw Red-tailed Hawks, Laughing Gulls, Brown Pelicans, Red-winged Blackbirds, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, and more.  Large alligators prowled close to the shorelines, and cricket frogs called from the marsh grasses.

Saltmarsh

A prowling Great Blue Heron.

An American alligator in the marsh.

The cycle of storms, salt damage, and flooding always leaves its mark on the landscape of the Gulf Coast—it is an essential part of the ecosystem.  Sometimes, however, there are particularly obvious signs of recent disturbance, like this damaged boardwalk. 

Flood damage

The beaches, Pascagoula River Audubon Center, and Gulf Islands National Seashore were some of the places we traveled to during the first full day of vacationing on the coast.  The next day involved more trips to the beach, where I watched Brown Pelicans from a public fishing pier.

Brown Pelicans are commonly seen here.

Coastal regions tend to host a wide variety of birdlife, and not all of the birds seen near the shore will necessarily be seashore specialists like Laughing Gulls and terns.  For example, this Loggerhead Shrike, a species that occurs more generally in fields and other open habitats, had apparently staked out some territory around one of the parking areas near the beach.

Loggerhead Shrike

As I mentioned earlier, the Mississippi coast is home to numerous Ospreys.  They can be heard and seen practically anywhere that there is water, and they are equally adaptable in their nesting habits.  In the photo below, you can see an Osprey nest—with an adult Osprey on it—sitting atop the tower.

Osprey nest

Less adaptable are the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, a local, nonmigratory, federally endangered subspecies of the common and widespread Sandhill Cranes.  The Mississippi subspecies is restricted to pine savanna environments in the breeding season, and these habitats have been threatened by human development.  Prior to this trip, I had never seen Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, so I tried looking for them at a number of sites.  Finally, my family and I spotted a pair of these secretive birds at—of all places—a landfill!  They departed with loud, guttural, rattling calls.

Mississippi Sandhill Cranes--lifting off at the landfill.

As much as I would have liked to stay longer at the coast, the vacation nevertheless had to come to an end.  The Gulf Coast region has such a diversity of wild creatures and habitats, though, that returning again and again never gets old.