Here in the Lowcountry, we often enjoy quite mild temperatures making strolling on the beach quite pleasant indeed. Late on Sunday of the Martin Luther King’s Day weekend, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather with a vigorous walk on the beach. I was suffering from some cabin fever and, after all, I needed the exercise! Carl, seeing me leave the house with the camera, noted that I would not get much exercise taking it along. “Sure I will. There will not be much going on out there” “So why are you taking it?” “Just in case!”
So off I went toting my camera (and binoculars) and yes I did walk vigorously right down the entry road, over the dunes to the beach. All the interesting birds were too far out there for the reach of my 400 mm lens. Thus I continued my vigorous walk past the area where the trees are washing out to sea to the wash-over area. There, I was stopped dead in my tracks by the delightful spectacle of a Ring-Billed Gull eating the remains of a crab in beautiful late afternoon light. Clickety-click!
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| Ring-Billed Gull dining on crab -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
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| Ring-Billed Gull -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
It was all downhill for the fast pace from that moment until past sunset. After the gull’s feast, I came across a Black-Bellied Plover on the mudflat. How beautiful in that warm, low-on-the-horizon light! Click!
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| Black-Bellied Plover -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
He was soon joined by several Dunlin. Oh, here’s an opportunity for a new banner photo for the top of the Pluff Mud Perspectives (PMP) page -- more shorebirds in the pluff mud! Perhaps I could improve upon the photo currently being used. Clickety click!
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| Well-camouflaged Dunlin -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
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| Dunlin -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
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| Dunlin -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
Then, a pair of American Oystercatchers showed to feed on a nearby oyster bed. Could I approach closely enough for a decent photo? This could potentially make a great candidate for the new banner on PMP! Click, click, click!
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| American Oystercatcher -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
Only the 2 Oystercatchers did not cooperate by feeding close to each other! I could only capture one at a time.
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| American Oystercatcher -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
Here comes the Black-Bellied Plover again with a Ruddy Turnstone. Click!
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| Black-Bellied Plover with Ruddy Turnstone -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, Sc -- January 15, 2012 |
The air was crisp, dry with no haze, making it possible to capture both the Morris Island and the more distant Sullivan’s Island lighthouses in one shot. Lovely!
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| Morris Island Light (foreground) and Sullivan's Island Light (on horizon) as seen from Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
Hmmmm. I noticed that the light was fading. I had dilly-dallied with the birds so much that I risked finishing this walk in the dark! It was definitely time to kick this walk back into high gear! As I returned from the inlet along the front beach route, I did pause long enough to attempt shooting this sleepy Herring Gull on the wing ...
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| Herring Gull -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
... and the small flocks of American Oystercatchers flying up in the opposite direction, heading presumably to the inlet to roost for the evening.
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| American Oystercatchers heading to inlet -- Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach, SC -- January 15, 2012 |
I did make it back to the car before dark thankfully. And this time, I got exercise and birds! Sometimes you can get both -- if forced to scurry in fading light! I will have to try that again!
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