Sunday, April 8, 2012

Three Early Spring Visits To Bunche Beach

My first of three afternoon visits to Bunche Beach Preserve this week would offer a first of season observation of the smallest member of the tern family, the Least Tern, on 2 April 2012.


The Red Knot above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


A bathing Lesser Yellowlegs was a treat to observe at fairly close range at Bunche Beach Preserve as well. Thanks, Hemant Kishan, for correction of this species' identification. An overflight of about two dozen Tricolored Heron at sunset with many of the birds offering the last of their juvenile plumage was a very welcome observation. Seemingly in an instant, the plumage of the birds feeding, loafing, or merely passing through identifies a change in seasons. On this day I met Andre visiting from Quebec with his Lumix in hand for the stunning sunset while he told me he uses a Sony Alpha A700 for his wildlife images. Day two offered a lower tide level as expected. I made my way west to get on the far side of several flocks of primarily Black Skimmers. Among them was a banded Royal Tern with possibly two pairs of the species observed to mate. Three Least Tern were seen overhead this day. On the walk back to the car I met up with Tom Obrock. He was very informative of the ultimate destination of different species of bird observed on their migration. He also gave me details of a Lazuli Bunting he had photographed earlier in the day at the residence of Vince McGrath. A very unfortunate observation on this second day was of an aviation enthusiast that spooked every bird on the beach for miles into flight. My final trip to the Preserve offered about the greatest number of birds I have seen at Bunche Beach. Migration of shorebirds appears to be peaking at this location. The only species expected to be seen that was not was Bald Eagle.


The Ruddy Turnstone above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Forster's Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Forster's Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The scene above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Least Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Least Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Least Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Ruddy Turnstone above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black-bellied Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black-bellied Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Semipalmated Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Lesser Yellowlegs above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Wilson's Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Sanderling above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Reddish Egret above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The sunset above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Herring Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Forster's Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Herring Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Caspian Tern hidden among a few hundred fellow shorebirds above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Herring Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Brown Pelican above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Black Skimmer above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The mating Royal Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The scene above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Dunlin above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Piping Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The sunset above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Marbled Godwit above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The scene above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Semipalmated Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Ruddy Turnstone above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Least Sandpiper above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Piping Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The Laughing Gull above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The American Oystercatcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.


The scene above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in April 2012.

4 comments:

  1. Great series from Bunche, Bob - an illustrative shorebird travelogue!

    Elizabeth

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  2. Seriously, now, does it get any better than this?? What a great series of pictures from your 3 visits to Bunche. I'm green with envy. It isn't easy being green!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Its hard to find words to describe the beauty I see here, Bob.
    All your photographs are so gorgeous.

    Thanks for the suggestion, I added follow be email.

    ReplyDelete