Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Birds at Longboat Beach


We saw a flock of maybe 200 birds all in the surf WAITING...watching the 3 fisherman with live bait..



Imagine a long line of all these birds, maybe a quarter mile long and 30 feet wide of beach and surf with all these birds.


Per my friend Holly we saw Royal Terns, Caspian terns, Sandwich Terns, Black backed Gulls, common gulls and Willets



below these guys were digging coquinas (tiny tasty clams) out of the sand

my grandmother used to make soup with these Coquinas that we picked up but I did not taste it. If you search Google Images for Coquinas you can see how tiny they are. The beach across the bridge from Longboat is named Coqunia Beach.

And the gulls were dressed in their tuxedos
JUST FOR YOU


24 comments:

Unknown said...

Lucky them love Coquinas when we use to go to Portugal. Have a terrific Tuesday.
Best wishes Molly

My Mind's Eye said...

Gorgeous...I love the collage. The reflections are amazing!!
The sand in your first photo is so white....if not for the birds I would have thought SNOW!!
Hugs cecilia

eileeninmd said...

Good Morning, Sandra.. I love all these beach birds. The Terns are one of my favorite birds, they have attitude.. I have not heard of Coquinas. Do you like them? Great shots, have a happy day!

Deb said...

Oh my what a fun day! I would be snapping away too!!!

Kathy said...

I love shore birds. They're such social creatures.

Marie said...

gorgeous! love the reflections! my entire family loves fishing.
I heard about so many creative dishes last week that I was ready to become a vegetarian. lol! I do enjoy the family stories though...always make me laugh!

From the Kitchen said...

I expected to see Alfred Hitchcock in one of those bird photos!!

Best,
Bonnie

EG CameraGirl said...

Glad to see the birds are heading NORTH! Yippee!! Love your photos!

Jackie See said...

The birds are beautiful! Florida has so many amazing (photos) places to just sit and enjoy nature! Thank you for teaching me about the birds! We saw our first hummingbird yesterday here in southwest missouri. It is cold and windy today, sweater/jacket weather. I so appreciate the daylight lasting longer in the evenings! Thanks for my morning trip to Florida! xxDazee (aka Jackie)

Anonymous said...

Really pretty photos of a wide variety of birds.

Chatty Crone said...

Sandra that is so wonderful to have this close to you - do you ever go in the water?

TexWisGirl said...

so cool. just love the terns!

Montanagirl said...

LOVING IT!! It's always fun to see Terns. I've several varieties in this area, including the Caspian Tern. You probably say "Wait! What?" I saw them over at Ft. Peck Reservoir.

Ginny Hartzler said...

I LOVE it, you know how I love birds! And they dressed all up for your blog, too! They are wearing hats, and even lipstick, or should I say beakstick?

Jo said...

Wonderful post about Longboat Beach and the Coquinas, Sandra. And what a beautiful array of birds. thanks for sharing. Jo

photowannabe said...

Such an amazing variety of birds. Love the tuxedos too. The water looks a little rough but I think the water is beautiful what ever the weather.

DeniseinVA said...

These are great photos Sandra. One of the many things I like about Florida is the great variety of birds you have down there.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

You did see a lot of birds. I often see some but not that many at the beach. You can't blame them for waiting for the fisherman! They must drive the fisherman crazy.....

Ruth Hiebert said...

Oh wow! I do love birds and so many at one place would be a dream come true.

Suburban Girl said...

The gulls I can do without but those terns are pretty cool. I love the bright orange bills on them.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Terns are a favorite of mine...thanks...:)JP

Ann Thompson said...

I've never heard of coquinas before. I've never liked clams That sure is a lot of birds

Rose said...

I can just imagine them waiting in line to be served their meal!!!

Just Mags said...

Wow, that is a lot of birds in one place. Quite a variety too. Terrific pictures sweet Sandra. Hugs