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.
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| A Black Skimmer |
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| Birds at the Sound at Dawn |
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| 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.
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| Reddish Egrets -Territory Dispute |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Mating and Nest Building |
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| 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?”
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| Fledgling Learning the Ropes |
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| 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/
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| Bringing Home the Bacon |
