While walking from Stump Pass down to our house on Palm Island about 2 miles south of the pass in mid-August, I noticed several interesting things. ????
The first was a remarkable piece of beach art: an octopus created out of sand and shells.
The body is covered with cockles with two large pen shells for eyes. ????
Article Photos
A baby black skimmer hangs close to its mother.
A large number of birds were visible, especially on the spit.
Endangered snowy plovers, a willet, adult black skimmers, including a mother with a baby asking for food all made an appearance.
Other remarkable bird sightings: least and royal terns, Wilson's plovers, turnstones, sanderlings and a black-bellied plover.
All in all quite it was a remarkable show of birds resting on the beach in this time of relative peace when few folks are around. When people are at school and work, the birds can have the beaches, including those on Gasparilla Island, mostly to themselves.
