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 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 in Panama and Mexico. These egrets are not slow, stately, stealthy stalkers; instead, REDDISH EGRETS got the moves like Jagger! They leave, dash, spin and race after their prey through shallow salt water. I was spellbound, an audience of one, watching this beautiful bird pursue lunch. 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.

Liz Brown
Pilchuck Audubon
Edmonds, WA.