December 20, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie
A photo story of many birds in one place
We were shocked to see so many different breeds of birds in one place at a remote beach just west of the main Gulf Shores Beach. From Gulf Shores, we headed west on 182 and found a public parking area with access to the beach.
We found great blue herons, brown pelicans, willets, sanderlings, and seagulls all in one place.
We have seen several great blue herons while here, and I will never tire of photographing them. They are beautiful birds.
This one was sitting not too far from where we were walking and then it took to flight. I was fortunate enough to catch a photo of him in flight that was not blurry.
He flew to the nearest building and perched on the roof.
As we neared the beach we saw several pelicans resting on the sea wall.
The pelicans were not too bothered by us and were fun to watch. These are brown pelicans. The brown pelican and the American white pelican are the only two species seen on the southern Alabama coast.
The juveniles are brown all over and the adults have a white head and neck.
The willet is common in all areas of the Gulf Coast of Alabama. They are basically an extra-large sandpiper. We are seeing them everywhere we go.
I must declare myself a bird watcher. I am a person who enjoys watching and observing birds in their natural habitat.
Seagulls are common near any type of water. I was surprised to find out there are several types of gulls found on the Alabama coast. Google says the photo above is a white gull and the photo below is a laughing gull.
The sanderlings are also plentiful here on the southern coast of Alabama.
They are small wading birds and are fun to watch as they scurry along the beach sticking their long beak into the sand to find food. They are also part of the sandpiper family.
Before we left, the great blue heron came back and landed nearby as if to say so long. He stayed put while we walked by and allowed me to take several more photos of him. Who knows if this was the same bird or not, but I can pretend it was him.
I hope you enjoyed seeing the many birds of the southern Alabama coast as much as we did. Thanks for stopping by.