We found the identity of the "mystery" shore birds: they are black skimmers. If you go to the website whatbird.com and search for that species, you'll find lovely photos of black skimmers!
Boxers
04-Oct-2011 04:43
It IS beautiful lighting on a beautiful bird. We had a summer-long yellow-crowned night heron in our suburban (non-wetlands) townhouse complex courtyard. Before this year, we saw him only occasionally, in different locations in the area. He migrated south on or about Sept. 15, 2011. We hope he returns next year.
I'm going to scroll through all your other Florida bird photos, in hopes of finding and identifying a shore bird I saw in Tampa Bay last week. There were probably 25 or 30 of this species, all standing on the shoreline, staring out at the Gulf. They were the size of seagulls, had black curved beaks with a bright orange band near the eyes, and had dark gray wings and I think white stomachs. They stayed in one grouping, while the seagulls hung out in their own space. The sandpipers didn't discriminate; they seemed to be friendly with everyone!
