By Sally Siko
Here one of my favorite shorebirds, the Ruddy Turnstone.
I found this handsome little one on the jetty at Ft.Fisher near Wilmington NC.
I’d made the somewhat treacherous walk across the slippery jetty when I spotted this little guy picking along the waterline. What a beauty!
Swinging my camera onto my back, I hand over hand climbed down the side of the rocks to lay on the narrow strip of sand at its base in order to get these photos at eye level.
The nice thing was that this bird was quite amicable to my presence allowing a nice close up view from about 15 ft away.
Although they breed in the Arctic, Ruddy Turnstones may be found in the coastal areas of North Carolina throughout most of the year in varying numbers. They’re most often spotted on rocky jetty’s, inlets and saltwater shorelines with pebble beaches.
Interestingly their preference for foraging in these types of habitats is actually how they earned their name.
They’ll scour the shoreline flipping over stones, pebbles and shells to look for prey possibly hiding underneath. It’s a unique behavior that’s really neat to watch.
The Ruddy Turnstone is also nicknamed the calico cat of shorebirds. During the breeding season, both males and females have bright orange legs, an orange-and-black patterned back, white belly, and black-and-white face. As seen in these photos, their nonbreeding plumage look similar to their breeding attire, but during the winter it’s replaced with a warm brown rather than then that distinct orange and black color combination.
Since they have to walk on wet rocks, the pads of their orange feet are grooved plus their toenails are short and sharply curved which gives them added grip while walking on those slippery surfaces.
Such fascinating birds!
Photos by Sally Siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5
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