Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski, Georgia

I want to finish reporting my trip with Carrie this past July. On our way back from Florida, we spent a day birding at Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski in Georgia. Before I report that day of birding, however, I would like to report our first birding adventure at Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski in November of 2010. In 2010, Carrie and I were visiting my brother and sister-in-law, who live in Savannah, GA a few days before Thanksgiving. On one day of our visit we went on some walking tours in the historic city of Savannah. Then on the day we left town, Carrie and I stopped at Tybee Island and Fort Pulaski to find some birds. Our first stop was the North Beach on Tybee Island. This beach had a lighthouse, shown above. As we were getting out of the car to walk to the beach, I noticed a bird I had never seen before, except in pictures, sitting on top of the utility pole. Actually there were several of them on the utility poles. They were Loggerhead Shrikes!



There were also a lot of these birds hanging around the parking lot. They were Boat-tailed Grackles--a second lifer within minutes!



There were not many of the birds I had hoped to see such as gulls, skimmers, or oystercaters on the beach. I did notice this Ring-billed Gull.



Then these three Willets flew by.



There were Laughing Gulls and Double-crested Cormorants standing on the posts out in the ocean.





These Boat-tailed Grackles (female and male) were in the dunes between the beach and the parking lot.





I noticed this Loggerhead Shrike swallowing a large insect it had caught in the same area.



I managed to photograph this Double-crested Cormorant before it dived back under the water.



I was entertained by this Ring-billed Gull, holding a Nerf dart in its bill.







Porpoises swam close to the shore.



After photographing this cormorant, I began my attempt to capture some decent shots of the Brown Pelicans which were flying and diving into the ocean to catch fish. They would begin in the water flapping their wings to lift off and continued to do so to gain elevation. Then they would stretch their wings out and soar before falling into a dive into the ocean. Finally, they would emerge from the water, often with a fish, and finish their prey while floating on top of the water before repeating the process again. There were many Brown Pelicans--both adult and juvenile.

















Carrie went back to the car after seeing all the birds that could be seen, but I hung around the beach taking pictures and hoping that other birds would arrive. Finally, a nice group of gulls landed on the beach. Most of them were Laughing Gulls.







However, there were a few Ring-billed Gulls mixed in with the bunch.







And eventually, the group was joined by this Herring Gull, coming in for a landing.





Suddenly, I saw something different fly by--Black Skimmers!





I called Carrie to let her know what I had seen. She decided to come back, hoping to see them, but they had flown by and kept on going. As she made her way to the beach, she was startled to see a naked man changing out of his bathing suit beside his car. She continued on pretending she had not noticed. While she was on her way, another group flew past.



When she arrived, I thought she had missed the skimmers until she asked me what kind of birds were standing with the gulls. Apparently, some of the skimmers had come in for a landing, and I had not noticed.















After enjoying the skimmers, Carrie and I left the beach. She went back to the car, and I continued to walk around the area hoping to find something else in the area before we left. On the way back to the car, I photographed this Boat-tailed Grackle.



I also found this Northern Mockingbird nearby.



When Carrie had returned to the car to read, she had left her shoes on the ground beside the car, thinking I would return to the car before we left the parking lot. However, I called her to come find me in the car, and she drove away, leaving her shoes. When we returned to find them after she picked me up, her shoes were gone.

Before leaving the island, we stopped at the Sally Pierce Nature Trail, which is supposed to be a good place to see Painted Buntings during Summer and migrants during Spring and Fall. The only bird I photographed there was this Great Egret.



On the way to and from Tybee Island, Carrie and I had seen a couple of other species as well. On the way there, we saw a Belted Kingfisher on a power line. We also saw a group of Black Vultures on the way back to the mainland. After having lunch on the mainland, we went back toward Tybee Island to get to Fort Pulaski. Fort Pulaski is not just a great historical spot. It is also a great birding location. Once we got there we hiked a couple of the trails. On the first trail, we saw a few birds and a lot of crabs.



Next we hiked the Lighthouse Trail, but Carrie did not follow me all the way to the lighthouse because the terrain was very muddy. I could not quite get to the lighthouse, but it was low tide, and I got close enough to get a good look at all the birds that were feeding on the shellfish in the muddy area around the lighthouse. This Ring-billed Gull's strategy of opening up the shellfish was to fly high up into the air with it and to drop it on the rocks, hoping to crack it open.







The numerous American Oystercatchers I found around the lighthouse had a different location. They inserted their long thing bills into the shellfish and pried them open.





Also present around the lighthouse were numerous Dunlin, quite a few Ruddy Turnstones and 3-4 Willets.









The shorebirds were also joined by a couple of different waders--a Snowy Egret and what appeared to be a first year Little Blue Heron.





We hiked back to the fort, and I took a few pictures of the actual fort.







On the way out, I was astonished to see an Armadillo!



Written and published on October 22, 2012