November Fulton Trip -- Mostly Shore Birds

I focused on the pelicans in my previous post, and I will do a special post on the Whoopers that we saw on the trip, but we see a lot of other birds, and some are really special!

Every time we go to the coast, Marc loves to feed the seagulls -- they are excitable birds. Taking shots of the feeding frenzy can produce some great vignettes, like the one below.


In Fulton, there are a lot of wetland areas, full of herons and egrets. Here is a great, reflective shot of a Great Egret. He (or she) has caught something -- I'm not sure if it's food, or just a reed and maybe lunch got away.






This pic of a Long-billed Curlew was taken from the Skimmer, Captain Tommy Moore's boat, in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Another great reflective pose. These birds are rather large, standing 23 inches. Sibley's says this bird favors drier habitats, but I guess this one is an exception.

This Ruddy Turnstone was posing for me. This is the non- breeding plumage. I have a shot of one in breeding plumage in my post of one of our first trips to Port Aransas. If you click on the link and scroll down below the Wilson's Phalerope, you will see the extreme differences in breeding and non-breeding plumage.


This little guy is a Spotted Sandpiper -- again in non- breeding plumage. (He gets spots during breeding season -- what a surprise!). This was another bird for the life-list.