As The Crow Flies

When I received a reply from Alice Van Zoeren, affiliated with the University of Minnesota, advising me of details about the banded Piping Plover presented in last week's post, I immediately had a quirky title come to mind for this week's article.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

Alice informed me that she spent a lot of time with the banded Piping Plover that was a chick this past summer at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The bird, possibly last seen by Alice, appeared in the Fort Myers area on 27 September or before. Alice has given permission to include here an image of the banded bird with one of its parents at Platte Point created on 29 June 2012. Out of curiosity of the distance the bird traveled between the two points it was observed, I remembered hearing the term "as the crow flies." The Great Circle formula is used to calculate such a distance while taking into account the curvature of the Earth. Using coordinates Alice provided me of her sighting and the location I observed the bird makes the distance traveled 1284 miles. I would imagine that the plover and the massive flock of birds it certainly made the journey with actually traveled a greater distance considering weather obstacles. The final destination of the plover on its migratory journey will hopefully be observed and reported. I made a trip to Festival Park in Cape Coral and Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in Fort Myers on 1 October. Festival Park offered a trio of juvenile Peregrine Falcon and a trio of Florida Scrub-Jay as highlights. Loggerhead Shrike were on the wires and an Eastern Meadowlark was heard, but not seen. In two hours at Six Mile, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher were observed as the most prolific species. No other photo opportunities arose along the boardwalk with a favorable weather event needed to cause a fall out.

The Piping Plover above was photographed by Alice Van Zoeren at Platte Point in June 2012.

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

The juvenile Peregrine Falcon above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Florida Scrub-Jay above was photographed at Festival Park in October 2012.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher above was photographed at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in October 2012.

The Blue-gray Gnatcatcher above was photographed at Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve in October 2012.

The Witches Of Bunche Beach Preserve: Part II

In a follow up visit to Bunche Beach Preserve on 25 August 2012, with hopes of seeing uncommon wildlife, I had a fill of the more common presented here from that day.


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

Shore and wading birds were prolific as is the norm when visiting the Preserve at a well planned time with concern for the tide not being too high. The Black Tern and Gull-billed Tern remained absent from view. Additional witching concerns that can occasionally be disruptive to the wildlife were in mind. After wading through images chosen for this second in a series of articles, I can't recall if it was on this trip that one of the more disturbing experiences occurred as a misguided visitor to the beach intentionally ran into a loafing flock of shorebirds at sunset seemingly for the fun of it. This disturbance of the birds at this exceptional venue is occasionally similarly observed with an unleashed dog brought onto the beach that certainly can't be blamed for its natural behavior. Perhaps there could be improved signage of the dog friendly beaches in the area. One thing is for sure, the birds here attract those that regard them and those that don't. In the time I had for observation on this day, it was a treat to see several species still sporting breeding plumage as they migrate through with a few interesting occasions when the action was captured. A more memorable observation was when the diminutive Wilson's Plover aggressively approached a much larger Willet. Between articles this week, I would travel to Hilton Head Island to visit with family from along the eastern seaboard. Though I didn't have a camera to capture wildlife sightings, Northern Cardinal and Carolina Chickadee were observed in extremely abundant numbers while about 50 Sanderling were observed in a flock feeding feverishly on the beach at Sea Pines Plantation one early evening.


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


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


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


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


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


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


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


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


The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


The Osprey above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


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


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


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


The Short-billed Dowitcher above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


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


The Black Skimmer with Sandwich Tern above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


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


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


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


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


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


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


The Wilson's Plover with Willet above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


The Willet with Wilson's Plover above was photographed at Bunche Beach Preserve in August 2012.


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

Please see The Witches Of Bunche Beach Preserve: Part I.
Please see The Witches Of Bunche Beach Preserve: Part III.
Please see The Witches Of Bunche Beach Preserve: Part IV.