black turnstone

three posts on the theme of black today. First this Black Turnstone, still in winter plumage, i.e. not black at all but brown and almost indistinguishable from Ruddy Turnstone (I saw those too - same shade of brown but with remnants of their dstinctive breast markings still showing) and Surfbird...

I believe this is a Black Turnstone in non-breeding (brown) plumage. I believe I also saw a dozen or so Ruddy Turnstone on a pier at the fishing boat harbour, but I'll have to check when I get time to do editing. If I'm right about seeing both, then that brings my bird species total for the trip...

My first Surfbirds (lifer #208) and Black Turnstone (#209) on the north jetty of Humboldt Bay, near Fairhaven, California.

Found this one when we took a day trip to the coast. HAPPY EASTER!

After a bit, the turnstone was joined by a willet (just patiently waiting out the tide at the tip of the ledge) and a spotted sandpiper (busy foraging in cracks and nooks along the cliffside). I got a few closer shots of the sandpiper, but this one was the best for showing the spotted edge...

After leaving the harbor seals, I stopped to watch a bird on a cliff ledge. Black turnstone. It came closer and closer until I got this shot. The turnstone was wandering about on the ledge, not foraging, maybe just somewhat restlessly waiting for the tide to go out.

A small flock of Black Turnstones on the local beach at Laguna Niguel in Southern California was a first for me.

And another from my hour's stroll on the Bay Trail last Friday. Hundreds whimbrels, willets and marbled godwits crowded the shoreline, just napping, waiting for low tide I presume. Beyond them and often hidden by them were a handful of black turnstones, turning stones along the water's edge.

Camera: Nikon D300 + 500mm f4 AFS Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100) Aperture: f/5.6 Focal Length: 700 mm ISO Speed: 250 Exposure Bias: -1 EV Flash: On, Return detected Very cold morning spent laying on the beach. Not the birds i was hoping for but i got the tides all wrong and had to make do with what...

Too close, has to go for full frame, LOL

First bird met on the trip to Tofino in Vancouver Islands. They are found in the Jettie at the Ferry terminal.

In this painting, shorebirds feed on the coastal rocks...

To my mind, these are not the most comeliest of birds. They are dumplings of the surfline.

Here is an image from the waterfront at Bandon, Oregon. I was most interested in the Ruddy Turnstone, but Black Turnstones may be more interesting to folks in other parts of the world. There is also a Surfbird in the frame, for more variety.