April 2013 50
there and I sometimes end up with as many photos of plants as birds. there and I sometimes end up with as many photos of plants as birds.
It’s time to go to the jetty. Take Beach Street down to the public beach and park near the jetty. You can walk out along the jetty if you like, but the birds are usually right there on the beach. The terns and gulls like to hang out here, especially the Royal and Sandwich terns, along with some Least, Common, and Caspian Terns and the small Black Terns, which are usually not in black breeding plumage yet. The gulls are mostly Laughing Gulls, but there are usually a few Ring-billed Gulls mixed in, and an occasional Herring Gull that hasn’t gone north yet.
After the jetty go back to the highway and take one of the beach access roads farther along the island. You can buy a permit in town to be able to drive along the beach itself. On the beach away from the city you can see many Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones (the bird that got me started birding), and a few Black-bellied, Snowy and Piping plovers, along with Willets.
Reddish Egret at Charlie’s Pasture after a rain
-Susan Decker
from the city you can see many Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones (the bird that got me started birding), and a few Black-bellied, Snowy and Piping plovers, along with Willets. American Oystercatchers are fun to see with their bright red bills. Terns like to feed in the surf and long lines of Brown Pelicans glide effortlessly above the edge of the dunes. Sometimes you can find a group of Red Knots or Dunlins feeding with the Sanderlings. Keep a look-out for a White-tailed Hawk over the dunes, not a common sight but as local residents they are not rare either. My usual time for the beach is around 10 a.m. before the beach gets crowded, but any time will do.
Before you leave the island by ferry, which is the most fun way to come and go, make a quick stop at Robert’s Point Park beside the ferry landing.