During my visit to Silver Sands State Park yesterday, I took a bit of a detour to check on a pair of Piping Plovers that have set up a nest on the beach just east of the park. I've never walked out of the park's boundaries in this direction before, and the shoreline's definitely beautiful. I can see why people would want to have houses here:
The Piping Plovers (perhaps the same pair I saw at Silver Sands a few weeks ago?) were nicely settled on their sandy nest essentially in someone's back yard. The nest is surrounded by protective fencing that the plovers can wander freely through but which keeps predators and people away. (I don't have any pictures of the nest because I kept my distance.) The two plovers took turns incubating the eggs while the other bird went foraging. It was a little strange to see the plovers running past furniture as they hunted around their home:
After I'd finished watching the nest, as I was heading back along the shoreline, the male Piping Plover flew down to the water's edge and landed right in front of me to hunt. I avoid approaching these birds so as not to disturb them (especially now that they've got a nest), but if they come to me, then OK!
I settled down to hang out with this guy as he darted around, snatching up food every few steps:
Apparently there are tasty creatures hiding in the sand:
He really does have a handsome outfit; classy, even:
The hunting must've been good at this patch of beach, because he wandered around me but stayed close:
Open plover mouth!
I know, this is a lot of pictures, but who knows when I'll next get the chance to see these creatures so close:
Best of luck with your hunting, little guy, and take good care of your family. Here's hoping there'll be tiny plover chicks on this beach before too long!
A few flocks of Semipalmated Sandpipers were also foraging along the water's edge:
And the Horseshoe Crabs are appearing on the beach again for this year's breeding season. I saw several of these creatures half-buried in the sand (waiting for the approaching high tide, I assume). This individual was crawling around in the shallow water with part of its sand-burrow still on its head:
You never know what will show up at the shore!
Yesterday morning's trip to Silver Sands State Park was full of surprises. There were no nesting shorebirds (which is what I was actually supposed to be looking for), but the many other awesome creatures roaming the beaches and marshes more than made up for it.
A group of about 40 Brant (our small dark geese) was hanging out on the shore. That in itself wasn't too surprising, since these birds are in Connecticut in the summer (although I don't see them very often), but wait, what's up with those two weird-looking white and gray geese in there?
I'm still not exactly sure what to do with these two geese, but they are unquestionably something unusual. Parts of them look so similar to the Brant (which are on the right hand side and in the back of the above picture), but they've also got those splotchy white patches and orangey-pink legs (but dark beaks), which is, well, weird. And from other views, they don't really look much like Brant at all:
I circulated my pictures among some Connecticut bird people, and the consensus seems to point to a hybrid between Brant and Snow Goose. I can definitely see some Snow Goose in these birds. And I think this is really pretty cool. However unlikely it might actually be (and according to my internet searches, Brant x Snow Goose hybrids have happened before, but they are extremely unlikely), and even though it'd be pretty difficult to know for sure that this is what's going on here, I just really like the idea that somewhere, at some point, there was a Snow Goose who looked at a Brant and thought, "Hey, that is one attractive goose," and the Brant thought so, too, and so what if you're only supposed to mate with geese that look like you. It seems to have worked out, if these two unusual birds are any indication.
So that was pretty awesome. I'll probably never see another Brant x Snow Goose, and these guys are absolutely one of a kind.
In other parts of the beach, tiny Semipalmated Sandpipers pattered over the low-tide sand:
And then flew off on little wings when they thought I was too close (I was crouched in one spot, so really they were the ones who got too close to me):
In the marshes near the beach, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron was feasting on the little Fiddler Crabs that live in the mud, and I had a great time watching this graceful hunter close up:
There were tons of crabs all over, and the heron was busy snatching them up. There was a lot of crunching (note the crab's shadow in this next picture):
I had way too much fun taking pictures of this gorgeous bird as it danced and posed. I love the pattern of feathers on its back and the fancy marks on its face:
The heron was really very good at what it was doing. Oh little crab, I don't think you're going to be around much longer:
Nope, there you go:
Down the hatch!
Mmm, a satisfied heron:
Speaking of crabs, this little spiky creature caught my eye as it scuttled through a quickly-moving stream to the ocean:
I scooped it up to check it out, and it turned out to be a Hermit Crab! It immediately rushed back to the water, quickly enough that I couldn't quite keep it in focus:
And although not technically a crab (actually in a group of its own, separate from crustaceans), this Horseshoe Crab had buried itself in a swirled depression in the wet sand. I assume it's still alive, although I didn't disturb it to find out for sure:
The hot weather is really coming in now, and what better way to start off another season of summer weather than with an awesome and eventful trip to the beach!
I'm back from our week-long adventure in Florida, and there will be posts about the trip soon to come. But first, I have to make a quick Connecticut-related diversion, because look what was emerging from the ocean when I went to Silver Sands State Park this afternoon:
Mating Horseshoe Crabs!
There were several pairs of these creatures scattered along the shoreline, the smaller male clasping on to the larger female, ready to fertilize the eggs she lays in the sand. Apparently, Horseshoe Crabs come up to reproduce in late spring at high tide, so I guess it was just lucky that I happened to be at the beach at the right time. These are such crazy, cool creatures!
A few lone Horseshoe Crabs (actually more closely related to spiders than crabs, as Wikipedia tells me... weird!) somehow ended up on their backs on the beach, waving their legs around in the air:
I don't know if these Horseshoe Crabs were nearing the ends of their lives anyway, but I flipped them back over just in case they weren't. (Have I mentioned that Horseshoe Crabs are big, and much heavier than I expected? I needed two hands to maneuver these things, and it felt a bit like picking up a flattened, wriggling bowling ball.) This one seemed glad for the assistance, at least, as it dragged itself back into the ocean:
Soooo cool! I'm glad I got to see these creatures up close.
And here's a bonus picture from today's beach visit -- a bunch of Barn Swallows seem to have nests under the boardwalk, and one of the birds landed right next to me to twitter at its fellows:
Pretty bird. :)
