They have returned! Last week I drove over the Navarre Beach Causeway, peering carefully to either side as I slowed to 20 mph. For the last few months the sloping sides of the bridge met the water with no birds dotting its sand other than a few pigeons or gulls.

In one big wave the Black Skimmers and Least Terns arrived on the Panhandle, filling the skies with their unique calls and patrolling the bays and Gulf of Mexico for prey. I waited impatiently for the first signs of the chicks to come.

Read the rest of my 10000 Birds post here!