Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Wild Bird Wednesday - Black Turnstone

The weather has continued to be challenging.  Sunny during the week when I'm at work and then overcast or actually raining on the weekends when I have free time.  Although, it still hasn't really been enough rain down here to make an appreciable dent in the drought (Northern California seems to be doing a bit better than we are).  We're at the end of January and I still don't really see this El Nino materializing into actual storms - certainly not as compared to the last big El Nino where my house practically floated away!

All this by way of saying that I'm still reaching back to a sunny day in September for my birding pics.  The last couple of weeks I've shared the Surfbird and the Ruddy Turnstone so this week, it's time for the Black Turnstone:




I've found the Black Turnstones to be much more numerous on our beaches that the Ruddy Turnstone.  Everywhere I visited, the BTs were out in force, but there would usually only be 2-4 RTs.




The BTs were very enjoyable to watch, though.  Masters at ferreting munchies in the wrack or the sand...and then incredibly single minded in pursuing them.  The entire pile of sand in this picture was flicked up by this single bird's beak over the course of just a few minutes.




And then he moved onto a new location and did it again!




Daring me to just try and take his seaweed!




The only time he stopped pursuing food was when a big dog walked by behind me...he froze and I used the opportunity to grab as many shots as I could.




And then it was right back to digging...




Look at that sand fly!



Presiding over the mess he's made.




When he was done with the sand, it was time to move on to the rocks for possible snack opportunities.





My favorite thing about this shot as the last rays of the sun were slipping away is that the feathers on his upper back revealed this tiny amount of green iridescence that you would never guess was there if you didn't see him in just the right light.  Of course, he still has sand on his beak LOL!

KJ

http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com/2016/01/wild-bird-wednesday-183-pacific-golden.html


12 comments:

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Ii have never seen a Black Turnstone even on the blog so these shots were wonderful to see.

Les Fous du Cap said...

Nice proximity to birds ;-)
Céline & Philippe

Breathtaking said...

Hello Silver Parrot!:)

Wonderful shots!:)I also have never seen a Black Turnstone, they are handsome birds.

Richard Pegler said...

Wonderful images of this gorgeous bird - so very different from the Ruddy Turnstones, which are the only ones we see in UK!

Neil said...

Great photos of the Turnstone.

eileeninmd said...

Beautiful shots of the Black Turnstone! I was lucky to see this bird on my lat trip to Washington state, a lovely shorebird. Have a happy day!

A Colorful World said...

I do hope you get more rain soon! The Turnstone photos are just wonderful. Love seeing him make such a mess! That green iridescence is so pretty, captured in his feathers by the sun!

A Colorful World said...

I hope you do get some more rain soon. The Turnstone is lovely. Great photos. I love the green iridescence on his feathers in the sun also.

Marilyn Kircus said...

Excellent study of a bird new to me. And I share your frustration. Most of my days off in North Carolina coincide with rainy days.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh I've watched the ruddy turnstones before on our Florida beaches, but have never seen the black one. What great pictures. You can reach back into your archives anytime as far as I'm concerned -- these were wonderful.

I think we're getting all your rain (here in Southwest Florida). I have trouble understanding how El Nino affects us here on the Atlantic/Gulf Coast, even though Bill has patiently explained the gulf stream etc etc to me several hundred times. Now he just rolls his eyes ;>)

Stewart M said...

What a great looking bird - I did not even know there was a Black version of this bird!

Glad my picture helped you sort this one out.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Rohrerbot said...

Ohhhhh man!!!! These are sweet photos. This is still one bird that I haven't seen. What a stunner!