Unexpected

While waiting for Logan to return from his salmon trip, we talked to a ranger counting boats as they returned who told us that it would probably be closer to 5:00 PM than 2:00 PM before Logan got back.  Not wanting to spend three hours photographing Brown Pelicans, I decided to take a quick run up to Bottle Beach though it was nearly high tide, far later than I would usually get there if that had been my goal.

I was shocked to find hundreds, if not thousands, of shorebirds feeding on the beach when we arrived.

Although it seemed far too early for the Fall migration, it certainly seemed like that was what we were seeing first-hand.

Most of the birds were Western Sandpipers in various shades of breeding and wintering plumage.

Further down the beach, were a few Dowitchers, 

a few Black-Bellied Plovers, 

and two or three Ruddy Turnstones.

It’s always special to see large numbers of shorebirds, but it’s even more of a treat when it is totally unexpected. 

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