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Sunday, July 28, 2013

Different points of view

Yesterday I spent a little time watching a nice mixed flock of shorebirds on the outer coast of Bodega Head. 

The photo below is mostly Surfbirds, but there are a couple of Black Turnstones.  Can you find them?  The turnstones are slightly smaller and have extra white stripes where the wing meets the body and up the center of the back. 


[One Black Turnstone is by itself following a tight cluster of Surfbirds near the center of the flock; the other is in the very lower right corner.]


Surfbirds coming in to land:



I'm calling the next one, "A Peregrine's Point of View."  I don't know if this is what a falcon sees when pursuing a shorebird flock, but it's interesting to wonder about!



Mostly Surfbirds (all but one) on the shore:



And one close-up (below).  Since they have just returned from Alaska, most of the Surfbirds are still in breeding plumage (paler faces), but note the bird on the lower right (darker face) that has molted into non-breeding plumage already.


I hope you don't mind more pictures of Surfbirds...I just can't seem to resist them!  I'm so glad they've returned from their journey north!

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