Matanzas Pass Preserve - scoping birds on the beach - Dinner Theatre

I woke up early and saw a couple on the beach with flashlights looking for shells. At first it seemed it was going to be a grey windy day, but it cleared and was blissful...a bit overcast at times, but mostly sunny with warm breezes. The water would change colors when the sun temporarily moved behind the clouds. People were constantly walking the beaches; birds were numerous and I was happy that we could see them well through my new scope. The first ones I saw were striking black skimmers, about 20 standing in a group on the beach. This is a bird you should google just because the bills are incredible. BLACK SKIMMER. Another life bird for me (and for Maria who had seen them the day earlier). Throughout the day, we would check the beaches from our fourth floor vantage and saw marbled godwits, ruddy turnstones, hundreds of sanderlings which are adorable in that they move en masse and run madly along the sand, often just at the water line. They look like clock-work toys, their little feet moving very fast. We saw a LONG-BILLED CURLEW which is also worth a look by you nonbirders. And willets, laughing gulls, Forster's terns, great and snowy egrets...

In the morning after we had coffee, Maria and I walked to Matanzas Nature Preserve which is a few short blocks from the condo. It has a boardwalk and trails through native flora. We barely saw or heard one bird which was strange as it seemed prime habitat through mangroves. The trail ends on the bay, and there were no birds there either except a cormorant and bald eagle. But it was a peaceful and serene place on this busy island. There is only one main road for its 7-mile length, and the traffic pattern at certain times of the day is called as the "crawl." It can take over an hour to go 5 or 6 miles at certain times of the day.

We had walked past a large Methodist church before entering the preserve and while sitting on a bench overlooking the bay at the end of the trail, we heard a carillion playing a familiar hymn, slightly muted by distance. In the neighborhood just adjacent to the preserve, a northern mockingbird was flying around, cooperatively landing on nearby street signs and trees, all the while singing loudly. This bird imitates the sounds of other birds or even inanimate objects and its song is melodious. I am becoming more attuned to vocalizations which certainly help in identifications. Many good birders will list birds they only hear, but I always want to SEE a bird before listing it. I was talking about this with Maria, and she mostly agreed but pointed out the whippoorwill, and I admitted I have never SEEN one but it is on my life list, since I've heard its very dtinctivise repetitive calls many times, always after dark, and sometimes to the point of "shut up already!"

Late afternoon, we went to the Beach Theatre and saw War Horse. This was advertised as a place where one can eat dinner while watching a movie. Well, it was not quite what we expected in that the venue was small. There were only two tables, a counter at which people could sit and just two rows of actual theatre seats. These had minuscule "tables" which could be raised and on which our food had to fit. Maria and I shared nachos which I liked and she did not. Eating nachos in the dark was a bit tricky though. Richard had a steak sandwich. Most of the food transactions were done in the dark while the movie was playing. The wait staff would come by with little flashlights and bring the food and deal with payments. We liked the movie, although the screen was too close, and the food part of this deal was more like going to the drive-in.

Back home to more key lime pie, reading, TV and computer work and then to bed lulled by the sounds of waves.