Summer in Rhode Island -- last few weeks

Barbara Seith
24 minutes ago
2 min read

This will be about a three week blog -- long than usual, but I haven't been out as much because I'm preparing for my trip to South Africa. Still birding in the morning is like coffee for me -- not optional.

Often at Quonnie -- on my way out this morning there was a common tern on a rock that did not flush when I walked by -- made me worry about it, but by the time I returned it was gone.

Quonnie Breachway

Common Tern

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper

Female Red-winged Blackbird

Least Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Succotash Marsh

Willet

Snowy Egret

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Thought it was a Whimbrel -- but just a Willet with breakfast

Glossy Ibis

Quonnie

Spotted Sandpiper

Galilee

Willet

Barn Swallow

Horseshoe Crab

Willow Flycatcher

Scarborough Beach

American Oystercatcher

Succotash Marsh

Greater Yellowlegs

Northern Yellow Warbler

Young Willet

Clapper Rail

Willet

Willow Flycatcher

Young Willet

Young Osprey

Yellow-crowned Night-heron

Snowy Egrets

Greater Yellowlegs

Snowy Egret & Glossy Ibis

Willet

Quonnie

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Great Blue Heron

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Herring Gull with Breakfast

Snowy Egret trying to get the American Oystercatcher's attention

Late Ruddy Turnstones

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Common Tern

Barn Swallow

Short-billed Dowitcher

Ruddy Turnstone

Late Horseshoe Crab

Atlantic Avenue

Greater & Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Mixed Yellowlegs

Probably my last morning at Quonnie before I leave for South Africa started with a fog so thick I could not see the Sandbar (It was just 30 minutes past low tide). It was pretty quiet on the point, but I had regular company -- lots of Ruddy Turnstones. The fog burned off and it was very pleasant (almost no people and no dogs). I have things to do, so I packed up and then something made me turn around and scan the point again -- there were 2 Hudsonian Whimbrels -- just hanging. So I put my chair back out and took some photos -- I had about 10 minutes with them.

I love being able to watch - really watch a species I only see a few times a year. I love the shapes they make with those curved bill -- the geometry of their bills -- particularly when they stand together. It was a morning that will make me smile long into the night. Only way to make it better would have been to have someone there to share it with.

Quonnie

It was a Ruddy Turnstone kind of day -- there were 8 of them running around.