Last week I wrote about the joys of birding in the sweltering August heat. A few days after writing the column, I took my own advice and visited a beach on Long Island Sound in southern Connecticut.

It turns out that I actually know what I am talking about every so often as I had a great time looking at the birds along the shore. The action started before I walked out of the parking lot as three ospreys soared overhead. Their “ki-ki-ki” call drew my attention and subconsciously turned my eyes upward to the sky.

As I walked along the shrubby area to get to the beach, a catbird and a few song sparrows provided a warm-up for the birding action that lay just ahead.

A few other birdwatchers, fishermen and beachgoers were already enjoying the area. I zeroed in on the birdwatchers to see if they were “on” anything good. The nearest birders were looking at the water’s edge through binoculars so I slowly approached where they were standing. I saw a small group of “peeps,” a general term used for sandpipers, sanderlings, plovers and other small brown shorebirds. Sanderlings and least sandpipers made up the bulk of this group of shorebirds.

I heard in the distance the unmistakable call of American oystercatchers in flight. As they are one of my favorite birds, I diverted my attention away from the peeps and found the source of the calls. I followed their flight until they landed along the shore. I worked my way over toward the oystercatchers and saw a few common terns and ospreys along the way.

I caught up to the oystercatchers and kept the right distance away to snap some decent photos but also remain far enough away so as to not disturb their hunting. There were three oystercatchers, two with fully bright orange bills in one with a bill that was orange at the base and darker at the tip. The later oystercatcher, of course, was a first-year bird that was likely hatched on that same beach a few months ago. 

I left the oystercatchers in peace and continued down the shoreline. I noticed a rocky jetty that was filled with common terns. Most of them remained on the rocks as a few terns circled overhead uttering their unmistakable tern calls.

As I watched the common terns, I noticed a smaller tern-like bird flying overhead and occasionally landing on the sand. They were least terns, and it was great to see them as I haven’t been back to that beach to see them in several years. Many years ago, I was a shorebird monitor at the beach and watched for piping plover nests and, a bit later in the spring, least tern nests.

Least terns are much smaller than common terns — 9 inches compared to 14 inches — and least terns have bright yellow bills instead of red bills. During the least tern nesting season, the adult birds will not think twice about divebombing anyone or anything that walks by. They will get within a few inches of the intruder’s head in doing so. This most recent trip was beyond their nesting season, and they left me and the other beachgoers alone and went about their business of looking for food.

A rather large tidal pool near the shore held a few snowy egrets and great egrets. I watched those comparatively larger birds stalking the small fish and other morsels that were trapped in the pool.

The trip to the beach was a great short diversion from the woods and fields that I normally walk through. One of the great things about birdwatching is that it can be done pretty much anywhere and anytime and each holds its rewards. If your normal patch of habitat is slow in August, or if you are looking for a new birding adventure, take the short trip to the coast and see what the shoreline and water have to offer.