Doing some birding long the lakefront in Milwaukee today, the stop at McKinley Beach proved fruit full for a few nice shorebirds. A stunning male Ruddy Turnstone was feeding along the algae mat and put on a great show. It worked some of the big rocks too along the side of the beach feeding. Amazing as I have seen before, I watched this bird turn over rocks looking for food, probably why it got the name “turnstone”. Also present a Dunlin, and some Semipalmated Sandpipers. The Piping Plover was still present too! When I arrived at the beach I saw Sue K capturing a few shots already from the other side of the beach. A few rain drops started coming down and I left. Images were taken on May 23, 2017.
Finding things along the rocks to eat…
Ruddy Turnstone
Binomial name: Arenaria interpres
Category: Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies
Size: 9.5” long, 21” wing span
Weight: 3.9 oz
Coming in…
Finding things to eat as the wave comes in…
Looking for things to eat…
Something to eat, a crustacean…
Something to eat, a crustacean…
Getting things to eat
Getting something to eat…
