My second trip to the beach in the last few weeks was quite different from the first. In fact, it was almost diametrically opposite. To begin with, I went to Westport/Long Beach first because the high tide was earlier than the week before, around 1 PM.
Arriving long before I high tide, I went to Westport where the Brown Pelicans were in full flight, and I spent considerable time taking pictures of them. This one’s breeding colors were beginning to fade,
while this appeared to be a first-year juvenile.
I was so fascinated with the pelicans that I almost forgot to leave to arrive at Bottle Beach two hours before high tide.
What I did arrive the Black-Bellied Plovers were already there, though quite aways off shore.
Knowing I had a long time to wait before the other shorebirds would arrive, I focused on taking pictures of them. This shot of one resting on a small â€?”island†was probably my favorite of the shoot,
though I certainly wish it had been in its breeding, not its wintering colors.
It wasn’t too long before small flocks of dowitchers began to land around me
and I changed my focus to trying to get close-ups of them feeding.
Despite the fog, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of birds that showed up, particularly since I had been â€?”skunked†on my previous visit to Bottle Beach.