Sanderlings Fighting over Food

Sanderling

Thanksgiving morning, my son and I went out photographing and left the other kids at home preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  We left the house, the temperature was in the 30s and in the time it took us to reach Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge, the temperature was into the 50s.  Even with the wind blowing.  It was still comfortable.  The high tide was just receding and the waves were still crashing on the rocks along the Ocean Loop.  We did not see any deer and overhead, loons and gulls flew by.  I only saw one passerine.  However, there were some interesting photos.

We met a couple of birders at Sachuest and they told us there was a pair of horned grebes down at third beach.  We traveled down to third beach, no grebes, large amount of a variety of gulls and probably 100 sanderlings running up and down the shore.

Sanderling

I had laid down on the on the sand and was crawling closer to the berm so I could get a better picture of the standings.  I had not reached the berm when I was able to obtain some pictures of a pair of sanderlings fighting over a slipper shell crustacean.  Finally, one of the sanderlings won out.

Sanderlings Fighting over Food

Sanderlings Fighting over Food

One Sanderling winning the Food

As I keep saying be prepared.  You never know what you will see you find.  Understand the history of what you are photographing.  Especially for shorebirds get down to their level.

Lesser Black-backed Gull and a American Eel

American Eel Anguilla rostrata  is an interesting fish.  It lives most of its life in fresh in brackish waters and returns to the ocean for spawning.  The American eel is included in the diet of fish-eating birds and mammals.  Gulls have been known to prey on the eels .

Caught it

Coming ashore

I observed a Lesser Black-backed Gull fishing for and catching an eel at Jenney's Pond in Plymouth, Massachusetts.  It took the gull a few attempts to capture the eel .  The eel in length was almost as long as the gull.  It brought it onto the ice and then started to try to eat the eel.  However, the slime coat from the eel seem to be too much for this gull.  At one point, it had to stop and go rinse it's mouth out to get rid of of the slime.  Again, the gull tried to eat the eel, but finally gave up and flew away.  A Ringed-billed gull came over, looked at the eel and left.

I guess I have to lift it

Flying In

Hard to eat

Tough

Slimey

I still cannot bite through the skin

Have Clean my mouth of the slime

Thats better

Well I will return again to the eel

Trying Again

Forget It I am Gone