Tag Archives: Gulls

A Couple of Gulls from Spain

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It’s been very hot and aside from birding from the apartment in early morning, I haven’t been seeing a lot of birds. Here is a shot from our casa.

Looking west from our terrace. We often walk to the village (La Caleta) but the walk back into the sun is challenging.

One of the common gulls here is the Yellow-footed Gull. This one was just floating off the beach this morning.

Another gull we see is the Audoin’s Gull. Full confession, this may be a European Herring Gull. Comments are welcomed.

Of topic, here’s a little spanish lesson I learned today. At the supermercado, I bought some eggs, onion, and tomatoes for an omelet for supper. I just took the carton out of the fridge to start and noticed “huevos cocidos”, cooked eggs. So, we are having egg salad for dinner. No hay problema, esa es mi nueva palabra de hoy.

A Wednesday Beach Walk

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We are on an outing to North Carolina for some warmer weather and beach walking. It’s been quite windy but things have improved, as has the birding. We stay in Manteo and usually visit the national seashore daily.

Our backyard

Brown Pelicans surround a fishing boat

Here’s a young Herring Gull and then an older model.

Sanderlings are fun to watch.
A Black-bellied Plover joined the party.

And a Whimbrel watched from a distance.

Some NC Shorebirds

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When you only get to the beach a few times a year, it’s always (for me) a challenge to sort out the shorebirds. Plovers, sandpipers, peeps, all moving all the time. This year we saw many Black-bellied Plovers in various phases of plumage.

Hanging with some Sanderlings

Easier for me are the bigger guys, like this Whimbrel and his Willet companion.

No one can mistake these Laughing Gulls when they hear and/or see them.

I’ll leave you with an image of a crab that we found while walking — it’s an Atlantic Ghost Crab. Thanks, iNaturalist

Wastewater Birding

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Some of the best places to visit for birds around the world are wastewater treatment facilities. The lagoons and wetlands provide a rich environment and in arid areas, a handy source of water. While security issues have restricted access to many such places, they still, as I found out this week, a handy place to visit.

First, on this chilly day, let’s virtually visit a couple of my favorite sites. The Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center at the Port Aransas Wastewater Treatment Facility is one of the hotspots along the Texas coast. Not only are the birds plentiful, they are accustomed to visitors and allow pretty close access.

This Pied-billed Grebe was grooming away in a variety of poses. It was neat to see his feet in action.

In California, The San Elijo Lagoon just north of San Diego is an innovative reclamation site for treated wastewater with great trails and a wide variety of birds. 

The Anna’s Hummer was a life bird.

The facilities in the Northeast tend to have few lagoons or wetlands but some, like the operation in nearby Waterbury, have aerated cells which stay open all winter. There were several young Herring Gulls and a few dozen Ringed-bill Gulls gathered on a cold day earlier this week.

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