Last Sunday we went to Lovers Key State Park for a little pre-vacation sunning. There were several large flocks of shore birds there, including Royal Terns, Black Skimmers, and Ring-billed Gulls.  There’s also a pair of nesting Ospreys near the southern end of Lovers Key. Here are two photo sets showing these Shore Birds and Ospreys. (The two pictures of the 2 Royal Terns are worth commenting on: I presume this was a courtship ritual, as the terns have the distinctive black breeding plumage on the crown of their heads, but for at least ten minutes, one was trying to get the attention of the other; (s)he was either not interested or playing hard to get!)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here’s the slideshow of the two Osprey and their nest just off the beach. They appear to be on the smaller side for the species (at least to my untrained eye).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.