St. Simons Island, GA

Sunday Oct 22

Well, we got a bit later start than we planned as I was up all night violently ill. While I didn’t feel great that morning, I did OK. We went to St. Simons Island and walked the beach in search of shore birds and did find 1 new one. (Piping Plover) We saw a lot of immature & mature White Ibises. Huge explosions of them flew in and out of the marshes. 

 immature White Ibis

 Least Sandpipers

 Least Sandpiper

 immature White Ibises

immature White Ibis

 beach walk for shore birds

 Various beach houses.

 Willet

 Willet

Sanderling

 Willet

we decided to walk back on the street and we took this path

 then we had to go through this field and past those houses to get to the street

 Northern Flicker

 Various houses on the walk back.

 yard all decked out for Halloween

We stopped at another beach and walked around there until lunch.

 Ring-billed Gull

 Ring-billed Gull

 Piping Plover (our new bird)

Horseshoe Crab (dead)

 Laughing Gulls

 Ring-billed Gull

 Piping Plover

Ring-billed Gull in flight

Went to lunch at where we ordered a shrimp po’boy and a crabcake sandwich which we split so we each could try both. Crabcake was very good, the po’boy so-so.

 Sandcastle Café & Grill

 Shrimp Po'boy & cucumber salad

crabcake sandwich & fries

Walked out on the fishing pier and then headed to the lighthouse. It was closed for touring. So, we grabbed some photos and while there found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. (a small woodpecker) We saw one before, but this one was more visible and we could get photos.

 fishing pier

 lighthouse from the pier

 a whale of a playground

Cormorant

 Site of Fort St. Simons

 Lighthouse & Museum

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 

We went in search of ice cream and found a spot to return to later in the afternoon.

We visited Fort and popped into the Christ Church.

 Military Road (1742) - Frederica's defenders marched down this road and encountered the Spanish grenadiers whom they defeated at Gully Hole Creek and Bloody Marsh

 Graveyard (unkowns)

typical crude hut the soldiers used

 Pileated Woodpeckers

 The Barrracks

 Blue Jay

with a berry or nut

 well

 Frederica's Fort

We had some lackluster ice cream and headed for home with a stop for groceries on the way. It had started to pour rain at that point. We had planned to take tomorrow off since it was supposed to be windy and rainy. 

Not feeling like eating anything we had at home we went in search of food. Bubba Jax Crack Shack was the goal, but they had gone out of business. Not much else in the surrounding area and we ended up at Denny’s. Can’t tell you how long it has been since we have eaten in one of those and then it was just once. We did have some good burgers though. (not that the food isn’t good, it’s just not usually healthy type food) Not that we have been eating the healthy version of Southern Comfort food. ha ha. 

Tomorrow, we will return to Jekyll Island and check out a couple of other areas for more birding.