I realize I love birds. Many of the articles I have written are about the various bird species I have encountered in Florida. Something I have made the point to focus on lately is observing these birds' behavior more. I want to understand them and see life through your eyes. Without being a scientist and spending days and years studying one species, there's a lot I don't know about them, countless behaviors that I can only guess at their meaning. But still, I enjoy observing them as much as I can.
The first weekend in September we went to one of my favorite parks in Florida, Fort de Soto. I love this place for the wide-open spaces and natural beach. It's peaceful and beautiful, not to mention there are many seabirds there as well. On this last visit, I was privileged to see large groups of birds.
When first arriving in the park we went to the short nature trail. I like this trail because no one else is ever on it. It's so quiet. It winds its way through palm trees and brush and comes out to the southern part of Tampa Bay where you can see sky bridge in the distance. The bay sands are lined with tall dune grasses.
I walked the trail, enjoying it with my husband. Then we came out to the bay. My husband continued along the trail, but I stopped to look for a moment. The tall dune grasses framed the bay so perfectly, and there was no one around, just me and nature.
Dune Grasses Along The BayCorrinne Brubaker
As I was about to leave, a group of eight brown pelicans came flying towards me. They flew low over the water. Gliding gracefully, just enough above the water so the tips of their wings wouldn't touch. They flew quickly, parallel to shore. Where were they going? Birds have their daily routines, their favorite spots they like to go just like people do. Pelicans also like to travel in small groups, but I was surprised at how many were flying together this time. I usually don't see eight together.
Brown Pelicans Flying Low Over The BayCorrinne Brubaker
After the trail, we went to the beach. To get to our favorite stretch of beach, you have to walk through long grasslands; it's a mini-prairie/marsh that can become very wet after lots of rain like we discovered while trying to walk through it. After a while of walking around, trying to find a way through, we gave up and went to a more accessible entrance by the gift shop. Despite being hard to walk through at times, I love those grasslands, they transport you back in time, showing what this area was like undeveloped.
Wild Prickly Pears Corrinne Brubaker
Dune flowers and little prickly pears speckled the drier patches. The prickly pears were growing bright pink fruits. Sometimes I spotted grasshoppers. Where the ground was wet, the grasses became a lush jungle green. I looked in one of the large puddles and discovered dozens of tadpoles. I realized that my little inconvenience was life for these tiny creatures. How else would they survive and grow? They needed the rains in these little wetlands, and I was happy I got to see them thriving in their little habitat. I had walked through these grasses dozens of times when it was dry and never saw tadpoles.
Lush Grasslands at Fort De Soto ParkCorrinne Brubaker
After driving to a more accessible area, we made it to the beach, and it was worth it all. Immediately as I approached the water, I saw hundreds of seabirds of different kinds lining the shore. They were standing there enjoying the sun. I knew I had to get closer. I had never seen such a big group of them. I tried to be careful not to scare them away, but they didn't seem frightened, some inched away, but most of them didn't seem to mind.
I went into the water to get a better look at the birds, and I sat still watching them. I noticed some of the birds might be juveniles waiting for their parents to bring food back. The way they squawked with their beaks in the air to other birds nearby looked as if they were asking for food and they looked similar but were smaller, their feathers more ruffled and brown. There were a variety of different gulls and sandpipers, and there were also skimmers. I love skimmers. They remind me of penguins with their white bellies and black wings and bright orange/red beaks. Then I noticed some of the skimmers were juveniles. They had the same funny beak shape and body, but they had speckled brown feathers instead of black, and they were slightly smaller. This was my first time ever seeing juvenile skimmers.
Skimmers, Gulls, and Sandpipers Standing on the beachCorrinne Brubaker
When simply observing nature, pausing for a short moment to watch it, you notice many things you never noticed before, even after you've been to the same place dozens of times. There is always something new to learn. You may learn snippets from what you observe about the creatures you see, but you are often left with even more questions, so you keep observing and learning and watching them go about their lives in their habitats.
