Back to Some Birds From a Sunnier Day!

As it is kind of a nasty day out today, thought I would take the opportunity to post some pictures from a beautiful day earlier in the week.  I headed down to the Coquina Shell Beach at low tide to see what was feeding on the rocks.  There were Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones and this group of six Red Knots.  From posts I have seen, seems the Red Knots are more uncommon than I thought as I see them pretty frequently down here.  

Here is a closeup of one that was busy feasting near me.  You can see the defining mid- sized bill and the greenish legs as well as the slight barring on his breast.  Would love to see them with their summer plumage but alas they move north as many of the birds do for the summer.  

This is a Forster's Tern, another common seabird down here.  This is the first time I have noticed the long tail feathers.

This is one of my favorites that I frequently photograph - the Northern Gannet which spends most of its time well off shore.  It is a very large bird (37 inches) so it is noticeable even at a distance.  Its head is very different from the gulls I usually see.  He was still pretty far out in this picture.

There continue to be large numbers of Robins and Yellow-rumped Warblers.  There were also a large number of Bluebirds which seemed almost to be a flock so perhaps they are migrating as well.

I have added another stop to my daily adventures down to Ft. Fisher -- the parking area at the Air Force Recreational site.  When I drove up, there were four deer munching on the grass which was unusual for the middle of the day!!  This one deer stayed around for quite some time and was quite dark in color which I have noticed in a lot of the deer down here.