Report on a Day of Birding at Corrigan's Reef near Cedar Key

We had a great day for a great outing with Lovett Williams. He took us by boat to Corrigan's Reef at high tide. Paradoxically, from what I would intuit that low tide would show more birds. 
Like the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park where winter drought concentrates birds and fish in that slough, the high tide concentrates birds on the gravel bars. Mega numbers. The photos are all Lovett's and all of American Avocets.

With Lovett's help, we identified many species. We saw 40-50 Forsters' Terns hunting fish close to the shore line, diving, diving and diving (they later sat out on the gravel bars.) We saw 30-40 White Pelicans sitting on each of three or four gravel bars. Also saw a single file line of about twelve White Pelicans, beak to tail, evenly spaced except for the final two who left more space between. We saw 40-50 Black Skimmers on a gravel bar before reaching Corrigan's Reef. Two or three Eagles, Four Ospreys, three or four Great Blue Herons, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Laughing Gulls, Avocets in the hundreds, Brown Pelicans, Cormorants, Anhingas, Royal Terns, Ruddy Turnstones, Scads of Sandpipers and Whimbrels, A few Black-bellied Plovers and three Marbled Godwits, and, Two Dolphins.

Report prepared by Friends member Joyce Tarnow
Photos by Friends member Lovett Williams