Out on the beach at Fort Desoto Park in early May, I found a few black bellied plovers.
I don’t see dunlins very often and it was great to see them in their breeding colors.
The stars on the beach this morning were red knots. Most were in their breeding feathers as well. These birds only fly in for a short time to rest up and fuel up before heading north for the summer. They are one of the longest migration birds, flying 9,000 miles each way when migrating. They spend the summers breeding in the Canadian artic and the winters far south in South America. We are fortunate to see them stopping over here in between. I feel like I see less and less of them every year.
There were a few juveniles mixed in but most were in their red colors.
Looking into the sun, the bird on the left looks like he has a snack.
It was a beautiful morning to be out on the beach.