Birds diving in the surf

I was at the beach a couple of weeks ago. It was late in the day and I went to a spot that doesn't draw the crowds. It was me and maybe 2 others looking at the waves. I could see about 5 birds, smaller than sea gulls, flying over the water. Then "splash" a bird dove into the water. I supposed it was trying to catch a fish. The bird was very close to land. It kept doing this over and over.
No one else seemed to notice this activity. Had they seen these birds before? I hadn't and I come to the beach a lot! I looked the species up online and found that their behavior and coloring fit that of terns.
There is a tern colony on Faulkner's Island off the Guilford shore that would explain their presence, but why hadn't I seen them before? Maybe they usually stay closer to home and fish. What a neat experience. I never did see a bird come up victorious, with some food. It was neat to observe this little bit of bird behavior though; a little something different than the food fight over a few scattered french fried I observed later in the week between a group of gulls. One of the gulls was coveting a hamburger wrapper with some cheese stuck to it. It looked like he was planning on eating the entire piece of paper just to enjoy the cheese. People really need to remove their garbage when they leave the beach.

You know its summer when...

you see lifeguards practicing their rescuing skills at the beach. The Hammonasett's lifeguards were training this morning when I went for a walk. Lifeguard chair sans lifeguard!

Walking on the Beach

Sunday (2/15) was a beautiful sunny day, great time for a walk on the beach. Collected granite pebbles. Snapped photos of whatever I felt was interesting: stones, shells, landscapes.... I've included some on this post.
It was great to be back out of doors by the water as I hadn't walked there for a while because of the cold (and snow). It was a sunny day and there were a lot of people and couples walking and sitting along the boardwalk. I walk at Hammonasett State Park in Madison, CT. There is a boardwalk just about half a mile long (see picture) made of recycled plastic timbers.
I was interested in what people were wearing that day. Some were bundled up in parkas with fur trim around the hoods. Some wore boots, although there wasn't much snow left. I had a winter coat on but nothing on my head. The sunshine felt good against my face. I met a number of dogs and their owners walking on the boardwalk. One, a golden retriever-poodle mix puppy, let me pet it as I asked its owner about the dog.
I found a number of stones and shells. There were some very large logs of driftwood scattered across the beach. The most interesting thing I found was a small sponge that had washed up onto the beach.