On a Thanksgiving Day trip to Fort Desoto we encountered this sign as we were about to cross the wooden footbridge to North Beach. Of course I wanted to see an actual Piping plover, since I can’t recall ever noticing one before. Not that I’d been looking or anything, but since they are here, I ought to at least try to see them. Didn’t see any Thanksgiving afternoon, so I came back two days later, in the morning.
Sure enough there were several on the North Beach mud flats. They are quite small and got spooked when a much larger Black-bellied plover swooped onto their turf. I found it easy to observe them by sitting down quietly in the mud. They came fairly close. Even so, they are so small that I had to use my digital zoom to get the photo below (cropped), so the photo quality isn’t going to win me any awards, but it works for the web.
Fort Desoto County Park is one of the Nation’s top birding locations. In addition to having lots of permanent resident bird species, many migratory species stop by the park on their way to other more exotic locations.
On Thanksgiving Day we took a drive out to Fort Desoto Park–it’s only 30 minutes from our house–and took a walk on the pier, the fort, and the beach. We saw a lot, and I’m posting a few photos that I took.
At left is a juvenile hawk that was perched on a telephone wire by the roadside. I’ve struggled to identify it. I believe it is either a Red-tailed hawk, a Red-shouldered hawk, or a Broad-winged hawk. At first, I leaned strongly towards it being a Red-shouldered, mainly because they are the most common, and because they are a bit larger than a Broad-winged hawk. This was a fairly large hawk. However, the more I look at it and compare it to various web photos and my new Sibley Field Guide to Birds, the more I think it is a juvenile Red-tailed hawk.
The juveniles can be a challenge to identify.
Shorebirds, especially peeps, like the one below, can also be a challenge. I first thought this one might be a Semi-palmated sandpiper. It was on North Beach, just below the high tide line, pecking at objects on the beach. At first, I thought there were two other sandpipers it could be: a Least sandpiper, or a Western sandpiper. However, the Least sandpiper has yellow legs, and the Western sandpiper has a longer bill, according to my field guides.
After reading the size information about these sandpipers, I had to reconsider. The Semi-palmated AND the Western are only about 5 inches long. This bird was definitely larger, so I had to look for a larger bird. I’ve now decided it is a Black-bellied plover, which is described as being about 9 inches long. This bird was every bit of 9 inches. To further strengthen my case, after looking at photos of all 3 species on the web, I see clearly that the Black-bellied plover has a thicker bill, which matches this bird.
Black-bellied plover?
Out on the Gulf Pier we saw lots of gulls, Snowy egrets, Brown pelicans, and terns. Below, Sue approaches a a tern to see how close it will allow her to get. It flew away when she got to the 3-4 foot range. This appears to be a Royal tern.
Sue approaches a Royal tern.
Fort Desoto’s North Beach is also a fairly good place to find shells. Below are pictured the most commonly found shells of the day, clockwise from the bottom: Sunray Venus clam, scallop, Jingle shell, Surf clam.
I picked up the scallop, then put it back on the beach. While I was stooped over, I picked up the other shells and put them all together for this photo. If you come to the park once a week, you’ll find different shells each time. During the summer we find lots of Olive shells, but I didn’t see any on this day.
Assorted shells found on Fort Desoto Park’s North Beach.
To give you an idea of what the North Beach area looks like, and to see why it has such a diverse bird population, I took a short panoramic video of the area. You can see the beach, mangroves, small dunes, a tidal lagoon, mud flats, and an Australian Pine forest in the distance, near the picnic area. If you look really closely, you can see several white egrets wading in the lagoon. The video rendered slightly jumpy on uploading, but there’s not much I can do about it. It’s good enough to give you a general impression of North Beach.
[Photo taken on North Beach at Fort Desoto Park, right on Bunces Pass]
I love this photo because of the way the Skyway bridge asserts itself so significantly. This beautiful bridge is a link between Pinellas County and Manatee County. It is the only practical route for me to take when driving back to my hometown of Bradenton to visit my parents, or to enjoy my favorite beaches in Florida on Anna Maria Island. My dad actually worked on the construction of the original Skyway Bridge span (not this current, new bridge). I drove this bridge twice each day from 1997 to 2002, when I lived in Bradenton and worked in downtown St. Pete. Many people are afraid to drive on the bridge, but I found it to be a beautiful and mind-clearing experience.
The above photo was taken on a weekend morning in early summer on North Beach, in Fort Desoto County Park. This beach was chosen by Dr. Stephen Leatherman (Dr. Beach) as the number one beach in the nation for 2005. It is a great beach. The sand is pure white quartz crystals, like sugar; the water is shallow and calm; there are usually lifeguards on duty; and the beach is unspoiled by homes or buildings (just the concession building). I generally prefer coming during the week when there are fewer people. Come here early morning on a weekday and this is a very, very quiet place. Take a walk up to Bunces Pass and enjoy the view of undeveloped Shell Key. It is also a superb place to enjoy a quiet sunset. And this park has some pretty big raccoons. If you are here at dusk you will see them scavenging the picnic area and the beach.
