Plymouth Long Beach, Black Skimmer, and Laughing Gull

Today was another beautiful morning at Plymouth Long Beach that was organized by Mike Milica.  At dark zero 500, we left by water taxi from Plymouth harbor out to the tip of Plymouth Long Beach.  The sky was clear and the bright, almost full moon was  getting ready to set over Plymouth.

Moon Setting over Plymouth

As we walked out to go on to the East side of the beach, the air was filled with gulls calling.  Waiting for the sun to come up over the horizon and illuminate the beach, we did see some semipalmated sandpipers and a black skimmer on the beach with the gulls.  Sunrise created some beautiful Golden light for us to do some photography.

photographing the sunrise

The main subject that was interest to everybody was the family of black skimmers, which consisted of two adults and two chicks.

skimmer flying by a photographer

Male and female black skimmers

Black skimmer chicks

Black skimmer with chicks

After I had taken numerous pictures of these skimmers, I noticed a little further down the beach to my right a young laughing gull calling in approach and an adult warning to get fed.  I moved down to watch the antics of this immature gull.  The adult laughing gull for a while appeared to be ignoring the little one and it seemed that it's only activity was chasing other laughing gulls away.  Finally, it apparently took pity on its young one and fed it.  Laughing Gulls feed their chicks by regurgitating up food that they are a already eaten in the chick will then eat the regurgitated food.  After the young one ate, it still kept on begging for more food.

Juvenile laughing gull begging for food

Adult Laughing Gull regurgitating food

Both laughing gulls eating the regurgitated food

Juvenile laughing gull begging for more food

Finishing off the morning as we slowly made our way back to the pickup area, there were a number of different varieties of shorebirds present to photograph.

Arriving back at Plymouth harbor, the whole area was booming with visitors compared when we first arrived and we were almost the only people at the harbor.

So ended another beautiful morning photographing the birds on Plymouth Long Beach


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Plymouth Beach

Here it's looking at you

Here is the second part about my morning at Plymouth Beach.  There were a number of youngsters (bird variety, not human) seen, including common tern, piping plover and a first laughing gull.  Both the common tern chicks and the piping plover chicks were moving around, but still under the watchful eye of an adult.  The laughing gull adult was very protective of her chick and kept the chick close to her and didn't let it go wandering.

We want food

Skipping along

Laughing gull and chick

There were many chances for birds in flight.  The terns were flying back and forth bringing food, either to their mate or to their young ones.  One adult tern took a dislike to one of the group at kept attacking him.

Common tern with fish

The angry young man

In dawn's early light

Black skimmer landing

Walking back to where we were to meet the boat, which will return us to the mainland, my friend Dan and I saw a bird which we could not identified.  The next day all ornithologist friend told Dan, who told me it was a juvenile horned lark.  I had searched my Stokes field guide to the birds and had thought it may have been a thrush, but, after finding out that it was a horned lark and checking out Stokes, the pictures matched.  That is one advantage of the Stokes field guide is that it has multiple pictures of the species showing adults, juveniles, summer and winter plumage and different age of birds.

Horned lark juvenile

Horned lark juvenile

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More Photographs from the Past

Juvenile black skimmer begging an adult black skimmer for food

I have been continuing to work on keywording old images and when I find photos that I like  I am post-processing them.  Here is a selection for you to enjoy.

Greater yellowlegs walking in the pannes

Northern Pintail coming in for landing

American alligator resting on another alligator

Black swallowtail

Downy woodpecker wit its be3ak open

snowy egret landing near a juvenile glossy Ibis

Great Black-backed Gull Chicks

Pied-billed Grebe flapping its wings

Reddish egret dancing for food at sunset

Short-Beaked Common Dolphin

Yellow jackets swarming around the entrance to their hive

Rockport Beach Park-Rockport, Texas

The next location that we visited was Rockport Beach Park, a Certified Blue Wave Beach.  In case you do not know about a Blue Wave Beaches, it is an environmental certification for beaches to promote public awareness and voluntary participation in maintaining clean and healthy beaches.  Blue Wave Beaches out litter free, handicap assessable, public restroom facilities and swim swimmable waters.

Willet

Willet

Redhead

a pair of redheads

Mottled Ducks

Just prior to reaching the beach, we stopped along the road and were able to photograph Redheads, Mottled Ducks and a Willet. 

Black Skimmers in Flight

Great Egret

Black Skimmer

Black Skimmer

Double-crested Comorant

Laughing Gull

On the beach itself, there were numerous birds.  One of the leaders had searched out the area a few days previous, and had noted that there were a lot more different species present, then.  The day was still overcast and with some drizzle and that may have had something to do with the scarcity of different species are that they had continued to migrate further up the coast.