State of the Island

My affinity for shore and sea birds came about under auspicious circumstances. My friend who is  a bird aficionado had been tapped by the Choctawhatchee Audubon group to take part in a post BP disaster bird count along Santa Rosa Island. Her count area included Navarre Sound and after several weeks of the surveys she contacted me and told me stories about the winged wonders she was observing. Nelda knew of my passion for wildlife photography and I was compelled to join the dawn beach patrol. 

A Black Skimmer

 

 

 

Birds at the Sound at Dawn

The Sandpiper Shelter-Navarre Park,FL

The research continued for two years every Saturday at dawn from spring until late fall, but I became fascinated with the birds and made weekly trips to not only Navarre, but expanded my photo safaris through the National Seashore west of Navarre and also throughout Fort Pickens. It’s now year 3 and I am still out there, albeit not every Saturday. Many weekdays I have the park nearly to myself.

Watching Reddish Egrets do their fishing dance in tidal ponds at Navarre has been nothing short of mesmerizing. I’ve concluded they do it as much for fun as for shadowing bait fish for breakfast. Watching birds like Ruddy Turnstones, Dunlins and Plovers play seasonal change artists and beleaguered my interest in the already hard to identify little avians. My photography has been the tool that lets me put a proper name to that littleblackandwhitebirdwithayellowbillandgreylegs.

Reddish Egrets -Territory Dispute

Reddish Egret -Herding Bait Fish

The greatest wonder I have followed is the ever increasing Osprey population in Fort Pickens. Hurricane Ivan decimated the forests in the park leaving it rather forlorn looking and peppered with hundreds of tall barren trees. Apparently it took several years for the `tweet’ to circulate that Osprey nesting heaven was plentiful in the Pensacola bay area.

Osprey Nest Building-Fort Pickens, FL

2010 saw a good number of successful nesting Ospreys and that population increased into 2011. I had been photographing and following a number of the birds, but did not try to make a close count of the actual nests.

Starting a New Osprey Nest

In 2012 I noted a website entitled Ospreywatch.org where fans of the bird from around the world were urged to follow and report on local nesting pairs. “Why not do Pickens?” I exclaimed. So starting in February when a group of about 10-12 Ospreys returned to the Park, I started my nest counting.

Mating and Nest Building

Several Nests in Progress

Between the NPS provided platforms and the previous and newly constructed nests, I initially counted about 12 nests.  In each subsequent visit there were more and more new birds and also more new nests. The last count I could confirm was 22 active nests with two adult Ospreys in attendance. I believe there actually are more, but some are in areas that are difficult to access.

It is now June and the most senior nests have fledglings that are learning to fly. They can be spotted in their nests and in trees near their nests flapping and ogling at their big feathery wings as if to say “Is this how it’s supposed to work?”

Fledgling Learning the Ropes

Youngsters in Nest

The other nests sport chicks of various ages, but if I am patient, I can catch a glimpse of the youngsters as either Mom or Pop brings home a big tasty fish. It will be one busy air space when all the young Ospreys and their parents start to soar the skies at Pickens. The Blue Angels will have some competition for their aerobatic shows!

I was saddened to see that the tropical storms that came through our area in June had a devastating effect on the nesting Least Terns and Black Skimmers all along my island route. The numbers of both species this year was low to begin with and the wash overs took out all the existing eggs and nests. Two of the newer Osprey nests went down and one of the Great Blue Heron nests was gone as well.

I keep good thoughts that we will not have a continuing season of tropical storms-or worse. It will be a wonder to see flocks of Osprey as they soar across our sparkling emerald coast!

You can follow my observation images here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cathy_hennessy/

Bringing Home the Bacon