19 April 2023 - Canaveral National Seashore, Florida

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Sanderling, Turnstone, Grey Plover, Laughing Gull, Royal Tern, Willet, Black Vulture, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Double-crested Cormorant, Brown Pelicans

After leaving Black Point Wildlife Drive, we headed for Canaveral National Seashore. After paying the $20 entrance fee (which allows 7 days' access) we found a parking spot which had some (not very pleasant) toilets and a boardwalk over the dunes to the beach. The beach was nice and relatively uncluttered by people but we had no beach gear or towels and it was blisteringly hot. There were a few waders, terns and gulls just south of where we entered the beach, so we walked down to where they were and encountered half a dozen Royal Terns, a few Laughing Gulls, 2 Ring-billed Gulls, one Grey (Black-bellied) Plover, and a few Sanderling and Turnstone. There was also a Willet, my first, and a young Lesser Black-back (not my first...) I spent some time photographing most of these in good light, and we headed back to the car. We drove as far south as we could then turned around and came back, and as we reached the original parking lot, a pair of Black Vultures were perched on some posts by the exit. By manouvering the car, we were able to photograph them through the window, but I struggled a bit with the light direction. A little bit further on, there were some Red-winged Blackbirds by the roadside, so we stopped to take a look. A couple of Glossy Ibis flew over the road here, and an Anhinga stretched its neck in defence posture as I approached, so I took a couple of quick shots and made a hasty retreat.

Sanderling, 1/2500 sec, f/7.1, 500 mm, ISO 200 (view full size image)