Cumberland Island ~ 4

4.9.12 ~ St. Marys, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ wild turkey ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
whelk egg case ~ 4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ tufted titmouse ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ bonaparte’s gull ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia
4.9.12 ~ turkey vulture ~ Cumberland Island, Georgia

This is the end of the Cumberland Island National Seashore pictures…  Stay tuned for pictures of other places!

28 thoughts on “Cumberland Island ~ 4”

    1. Thank you, Laurie! I’m thinking they are seagulls – very different looking than the ones we have around here. Did a little searching and their are many kinds of gulls – perhaps they are Sabine’s Gulls?

  1. Hi,
    Another beautiful set of photos from this gorgeous Island. I had to look up whelk I had not heard the name before, as soon as I saw the photos I knew what it was, I have never seen the egg case before, how very interesting that they form like that.

    1. Thanks, Mags! The only reason I knew it was a whelk egg case was because Tim’s cousin found one on a Connecticut beach and my sister, the walking nature encyclopedia, identified it for me. πŸ™‚ If you like you can see the picture of that one in this post:
      http://www.ingebrita.net/archives/3783

  2. What a lot of neat images you photographed! You can feel the spirit of the island.The whelk, the turkey vulture, all fascinating. Thank you, Barbara.

    1. The island is a sacred place – it could be felt the minute we stepped off the ferry and started walking through the forest of ancient oaks draped with Spanish moss, on our way across the island to a seashore that stretched in both directions as far as the eye could see. I thought that might be a turkey vulture – a bird-watching friend pointed one out to me up here, a couple of days before we left for Georgia…

    1. And thank you, Jane, for identifying the black-headed gulls! I looked them up after reading your comment and found that The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website says: “A common gull of the Old World, Black-headed Gull is a rare, but regular visitor to eastern North America.” I did feel certain that I had never seen gulls like them before…

  3. Ok.. these are begging for a caption contest….a few I didn’t come up with anything….
    1. You looking at ME?!?
    2. Note to self.. never do a jumping jack as the wave arrives.
    3. Which way did he go, which way did he go George?
    4. Dang, Thanksgiving Day is coming…
    5. You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out……
    6. ….
    7. I know there is a worm in there….. somewhere…..
    8. Real or plastic…. they will never tell…
    9. …….
    10. ………

    1. You and Audrey need to have a caption contest… Coming up with captions and titles is a frustrating occupation from where I sit! #2 is terrible, though… πŸ™ β™₯

    1. Thanks, Sheryl… I felt very aware of and awed by the circle of life while walking along this beach – something new to contemplate every few steps.

  4. I’ve also never seen a whelk case before. I’m glad you identified it for us so I’ll know what it is if I see one. But whelks are snails aren’t they? How can they lay such a long egg case?
    Your photos are wonderful. How many days were you in this beautiful place?

    Are those Wild Turkeys?

    1. Yes, that was just one wild turkey with personality – he was quite the camera ham. πŸ™‚ We were only on the island for a few hours – the next time we visit our son and daughter-in-law we will plan ahead better so we can stay longer.

      The knobbed whelk is a large predatory snail of the east coast – its shell can be up to 12 inches long…

      “Adult females will deposit up to 100 fertilized eggs and nurse eggs into albumin filled egg capsules. The egg capsules are strung together in a long spiral string which is called an egg case or string. The total length of the string can reach over a foot and contain up to 160 capsules.”
      http://amylyne.myweb.uga.edu/GSC/whelk.html

  5. Glad you noted the whelk egg case – it looked like a telephone cord and that would have been sad. The wild turkeys are fun to watch – we have them strolling through our yard from time to time. First time it was winter after a fresh snow and when we saw the tracks! They must have been on the move because each footprint was about 2 feet apart and LARGE. It was like Jurassic Park.

    1. It’s amazing what things we can spot when there is no human litter to mar the scenery.

      I’ve seen wild turkeys out and about here in Connecticut, but I never had one come so close to me before. Those are impressively long steps your turkeys took through your snow-covered yard – what characters they must be!

  6. I thoroughly enjoyed all the pictures of cumberland island. Many of the pics reminded me of my hometown, the beach side fun we used to have. The star fish! Oh wow!
    Amazing. Thank you so much Barbara. I love spending the evenings at the beach side, watching the sun set realizing the day turn into night. I miss those days, when my father used to take us for a walk by the shore, we used to walk miles. fond memories. πŸ˜€

    1. Perhaps you’ve told me before and I have forgotten – if so, my apologies – but what is the name of your hometown, Sonali?

      I’m glad you enjoyed these photos and that they brought back fond, pleasant memories for you. I grew up loving long walks on the beach, too. I still remember how amazed I was when my father told me if we sailed straight across the Atlantic from where we were standing we’d come to Europe. At the time I only had a vague notion of how big this earth with its huge oceans is – I was very young.

      You and I know the truth of what Jacques Cousteau once said, “The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

    1. Thank you, Sonali – Sachin’s photographs are beautiful!!! It’s hard for me to imagine living in such a lush tropical paradise, coming from a land of snow and ice. πŸ™‚ And he said November is the start of tourist season. Wow. Must be all the people from up north trying to get a break from winter weather…

    1. I’m so happy you’re enjoying the pictures, Diane! This blog is going to get pretty boring after all this excitement, although I am eager to photograph the tall ships coming here in July!

  7. The squirrel is adorable! I think I will have to visit Cumberland Island if I ever make it over to the USA. What a fabulous place to explore! Your turkey looks similar to what we have here and are called “Bush Turkeys”. πŸ™‚

    1. You will love Cumberland Island if you get a chance to go there, Joanne! We hope to go back because there is much of the island we did not have time to see, and wild horses, too. I wonder if your bush turkeys are as goofy as our wild turkeys? πŸ™‚

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