Mostly cloudy with
periods of rain and thunderstorms
I made my way out to the beach
early this morning to see if I could get any shots of the local avian life
before the storms arrived. It was
pretty calm and although the sky was layered in dark nimbus clouds, the rains
had yet to arrive, so I managed to get some shots of a few LBI LBJ’s (little
brown jobs). Each beach access
seems to have a fair contingent of House sparrows keeping guard at the
entrance. Many of these seem to be
quite young judging by the size and plumage. Try as I may, my efforts to find any sparrow other than Passer
domesticus.
I did manage to find one other
LBJ, however, the Purple finch.
With no dark striping on the breast and a reddish rump, the bird is
distinguishable from the more common House finch.
The other little bird of the
day is the Sanderling which was present in pretty good numbers this
morning. Chasing the waves back
and forth, an occasional larger wave may surprise this little sandpiper and
cause him to jump up into a short flight to dry ground. The classic bold white wingstripe then
becomes quite visible and confirms the id.
The skies continued to thicken
and I figured I’d better get off the beach while the gettin’ was good. As the forecast looked more and more to
be on the mark, my son and
grandson decided to go tour the local fishery up at Viking Village at the north
end of the island. The tour
offered insight into the three major fisheries – scalloping, long-lining, and
gill-netting – and offers an up close view of the operations of the dock.
While in the facility and out
of the elements, a strong thunderstorm hit and the sound on the tin roof of the
building reminded us that it was indeed good to be inside.
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