Birding: Cruisin’ on the beach: A tale of two days

Published 9:12 am Tuesday, August 5, 2025

Cruisin’ on the beach slowly enough to see beach birds and what they were up to was the birding treat of the week. The tide was right for cruisin’ two days in a row. On day one sanderlings galore were running in and out with the waves as the tide came in. As the ocean receded these tiny shorebirds poked their bills into the sand for crustaceans and other tiny critters. It was afternoon snack time.

A few very social semipalmated plovers kept company with the many hundreds of Sanderling. They were happily doing their run, stop and pick routine while the sanderling ran like madmen. Western sandpipers were also in the groups but were few and far between.

The cruise was not as expected. Cars were driving at fast speeds, and a gentleman with a dog walked right into the shorebirds even as he was reminded not to disturb them. We moved on to where three turkey vultures were doing their clean up job. They are scavengers and enjoy all the carrion that rolls onto the beach with waves or is left unfinished by a raptor. They are the best cleanup crew ever. The dog walker then chose to turn around, move up the beach a bit toward the sand dunes and walk right in line toward the feeding turkey vultures. Such thoughtlessness! Car drivers were not always careful to avoid the resting and foraging shorebirds. Hundreds of sanderlings were resting and foraging. Clearly they are migrating birds that were fattening up in order to survive the rest of their journey south.

Day two was a different story. Most of the sanderlings had moved on but were replaced by hundreds of semipalmated plovers. One lone, male, black-bellied plover joined the group but sort of kept its distance. It is a larger plover with longer legs, so it was standing at the edge of and often in the ocean water.

A few bald eagles were on the beach on the lookout for dinner, while others sat on the eagle perches in the dunes looking for their dinner. The occasional eagle perch was occupied by a turkey vulture or two. Three found carrion on the beach and were in the process of devouring it. All in the line of duty for the cleanup crew!

Brown pelicans were successfully foraging in the ocean. After a stint at diving and eating they flew to the shore to rest and preen their feathers. A group of fifty-five were busy preening, resting and then taking off again to forage, but only a few at a time left the flock to feed.

Common ravens, American crows, California gull, ring-billed gulls, were plentiful also. They were either resting or picking at the crab shells that were being washed in by the tide. They were plenty of tidbits on the beach.

Being a Monday, there were fewer cars driving on the beach and most respected the presence of the birds by driving slowly past them and away from them. A few, however, did not! These drivers and passengers, alike, missed so much. The beauty of the birds and their delightful antics along with the sheer beauty of the ocean waves and our sandy beach.
Summer brings so many folks to the Long Beach Peninsula. Most respect the birds and their need for space and time to rest and forage, but many do not.

Today is another auspicious day for a beach drive. I wonder what magic it will bring. I’ll keep you posted! Happy birding!

“Common Birds of the Long Beach Peninsula,” by Kalbach and Stauffer, is available from the Bay Avenue Gallery, Time Enough Books and the Pacific County Museum in South Bend.