Hi Tweets: I had to take a business trip to St. Pete Beach, Fla. recently, and used the opportunity to visit Shell Key, a small island that is part of Florida's Bird Trails. From my hotel on the beach I walked to the marina where I caught the shuttle to the key, but there's also a $2 bus that goes up and down the beach where the major resorts are. For $25, the shuttle boat that runs three times a day drops you on the island, which is just off shore from the elegant Pass-A-Grille neighborhood. Roughly half the island is a bird preserve with no entry allowed; the rest is open to public use but there are no man-made facilities on site. I was one of three people visiting and had the island all to myself from 2 to 4 p.m. that day. I picked up some new life birds, including a BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER and a BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER, but the best treat was watching a REDDISH EGRET hunting for food in a small, brackish pond. This was my first sighting of this bird in the US, although I'd seen it before in Panama and Mexico. These egrets are not slow, stately, stealthy stalkers; instead, REDDISH EGRETS got the moves like Jagger! They leap, dash, spin and race after their prey through shallow salt water. I was spellbound, an audience of one, watching this beautiful bird dance its frenetic ballet. Back on the mainland, I felt zinged by heaven when a small flock of BLUE GROSBEAKS fluttered into view, then settled down to peck for food on the ground.

A block away from the marina is "downtown" Pass-A-Grille, where I would recommend catching a Cigar City Jai Alai India Pale Ale at The Hurricane. Best beer in town, but take the bus after. You will be in no shape to walk back.

Liz Brown
Pilchuck Audubon
Edmonds, WA.