Sand Key Park

tern chick

      

"Cute! Cute! Cute!"  That's what I wrote in my journal the evening after visiting Black Skimmers, Royal Terns and their chicks at Sand Key Park in Clearwater.  Since I rarely go to the beach, I had no idea these guys were laying eggs, until I read about them on PinellasBirds.com. Their location wasn't revealed, but, after a little detective work, I figured out where to find them. I'd never been to Sand Key before (that I remembered), and hadn't been through Clearwater Beach in years. The Way I See It was on a new adventure, and crossing off yet another park on the Great Florida Birding Trail.

Sand Key Park is an oasis compared to Clearwater Beach, which is extremely touristy and built-up, a far cry from back in the day when I was a kid, and there wasn't much more than mom & pop hotels, miles of sand, and the Gulf of Mexico.

A barrier island, Sand Key is 95 beautiful acres, separated from Clearwater Beach by Clearwater Pass.  It was opened to the public in 1984, and visitors can enjoy both the beach and park, where there's a salt marsh.  I definitely recommend a trip to this park, but don't necessarily recommend going on a summer's afternoon, even early afternoon. It was hot!

Even the birds looked hot, at least the snowy egret we saw in the parking lot did.  At first, I thought it was a white plastic bag in the water, until I got closer, and could see it was a snowy submerged to its neck. Out on the beach, some of the Black Skimmers were crashed, bellies flat on the sand, looking dead, which scared me at first.  I image the cool sand felt good to them. 

Terns of varying sizes were everywhere, flying, catching fish, trying to steal each others' fish.  We watched them for a long time, before moving further down the beach, where we could see a large roped-off square, which was the Skimmers' nesting area.  



royal terns having a fish fight



I'd never seen either Tern or Skimmer chicks before, and I could watch them forever.  The tern chicks were in the fledged stage, not in the least bit fluffy, and looking like small adults.  Some of the Black Skimmer chicks,  though, were downy things, sand-speckled fluff camouflaged in the sand.  Quite a few were still hanging out with their parents, but one little Skimmer bravely ran across the sand with its wings spread.  It was too small to fly, but old enough to start practicing.  Just about the sweetest moment for me was an adult and two chicks lined up, all with their beaks open.  I don't know what they were talking about, but it made us laugh all the same.



skimmer shout out

I guess some Skimmers don't read very well, because there were a few who'd built their nests outside the roped-off area.  Beach-goers were respectful of the Skimmers' space, many stopping to look, and the skimmers were cautious, but not so scared they weren't acting normally.  It was a hub of activity inside the nesting area, with adults and chicks moving around, little chicks exploring, or burrowing under a parent.  I love nesting season, watching how parents and chicks interact, and imagining what they're saying when they call to each other, or what they're thinking as they move across their world. In this instance, I imagine they were talking about how hot it was, and what a good idea it would be to find some shade.  After a few hours of birdwatching, I felt the same, but look forward to another summer of babies!  And another trip to Sand Key Park, which, by the way, is a nesting area for sea turtles.  But that's another story.





black skimmer with chick