Seacliff Beach

I got out of work early this morning so I decided to go take a look at Seacliff Beach after the rain shower we had earlier. I wish I brought my camera!

The beach had a great assortment of gulls including Great Black-back, Herring, Ring-billed and lots of Bonaparte's Gull, including 7 juveniles. With so many Bonaparte's I thought surely a Little or even a Black-headed Gull would be a possibilty, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary except for a Lesser Black-backed Gull in 2nd alternate plumage.

Terns were also a plentiful, especially Common Terns, young and old. An adult Caspian Tern would often bring back a fish for its baby, and then take on any Ring-billed or Herring Gull that got too close for the chick to enjoy its lunch. There was also a juvenile Common Tern that fell on its face while walking with its head up eyeing its parent flying in with a meal.

After studying the birds for a half hour, I realized that I was the only human there the whole time, which is rare at Seacliff in summer. What a treat!