Spring Shorebird Migration

Although I was thrilled to get my first-ever shot of a Red-Necked Grebe in breeding colors and some nice shots of the Brown Pelicans, I did go to the beach last week to observe the annual shorebird migration, and I wasn’t about to miss it by continuing to shoot shots in Westport.

When I arrived at Bottle Beach there was already a small group of birders, but very few photographers. Since most of the the birders use powerful scopes, I avoided walking out onto the flats in front of them like I often do when I’m the first person at the beach.

As it turned out, the migration was a bit of a disappointment. Although there was a lot more birds in the flock than I could fit in a 100 mm frame,

15ShrbrdMig

there was a lot less birds than I’m used to seeing during Spring migration and they seemed more restless than usual, spending more time flying up and down the beach than feeding,

15ShrbrdMig2

though my favorite shot of the shoot was this one of some dowitchers landing .

DowtchrLndng

Perhaps it was a consolation that there seemed to be more Black-Bellied Plovers,

15BlkBldPlver

my favorite shorebird, than usual.

I’ll have to admit I’ve probably been spoiled by the number of Spring shorebird migrations I’ve seen in recent years, but this part of the day, like the time spent at Ocean Shores, was a bit of a disappointment.

If only I could have more disappointing days like this in my life.