The Natural Art Culture: Bewitched, Begulled and Bewildered 2

More About Me

Allow me to introduce myself. Most of my spare time is dedicated to natural history and environmental knowledge development and communication. I hold an executive position with the Mississippi Madawaska Land Trust, Carleton, Place, Ontario, Canada. I live in Arnprior, the location of the official tallest tree in Ontario at Gillies Grove. It is a White Pine (Pinus Strobus) with a height of about 47 metres. The National Research Council of Canada has placed me on their Animal Care Committee, which oversees the treatment and care of laboratory animals in human health research. I have my own blog, which captures natural history knowledge and more as I make my way through various eco-districts.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Bewitched, Begulled and Bewildered 2

On Wednesday March 4, 2015, I went for two walks along the beach. I went south in the morning up to a small stream that runs into the ocean. The river stirs up the sand, making this a great place for gulls and shore birds to feed. A dense fog permitted me to approach the birds without disturbing them. It also made for photos that aren't quite as sharp as others taken on cloudy days.

I came across a very large number of gulls, including about 50 Bonaparte Gulls, pictured below. I think this may be the first time I have seen their legs! Lovely.

Clustered nearby, a large number of Laughing Gulls.

These two Bonapartes Gulls were stepping out together (below).

Grounded by the fog, as well, was a Forster's Tern (below), being reflective.

The afternoon walk yielded a flock of Willets (above), scouring the water for crustaceans.

The day ended, and the moon rose over the Atlantic, giving a very picturesque view through the waning fog.

The next day was warm and sunny. Walking north, I found the gulls again. The one below was getting quite bored with me.

Herring Gull

This Great Black-backed Gull seemed very nonchalant about my presence.

Cool photo above: as explained in the first part of the Myrtle Beach blog posting, there are 3 large gull species on the beach, and a mix of juveniles and adults. Here are all three, from left: Adult Great Black-Backed, juvenile Herring and adult Ring-billed. The size differences can be seen, largest to smallest. Great Black-backed Gulls are BIG.

I was seeing a few Grebes, Cormorants, Loons and Mergansers in the surf. The choppy seas didn't permit photos. While looking out at these fishing birds, I saw the first Pelagic bird of this trip, a Northern Gannet flying from North to South without diving.

At 4:30 PM, the last strong cold front of the winter charged across the beach and out to see, where I snapped these photos of it. The temperature plunged 20 degrees in 20 minutes, and didn't recover until Saturday, two days later. That day I went to Huntington Beach State Park, which will be featured in the next posting.