Monday, May 17, 2010

Ruddy Turnstones

It was last Sunday when I found this pair of Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres) at Rokushou-en. Though I've only got several hours for birding before going to an appointment, the birds were obliging enough for me to get loads of satisfiable shots. They were feeding on some invertebrates hiding among the rocks. Male bird has pure white crown with black streaks, while the female has brownish wash on its crown and layered with black streaks.
Too bad I didn't see it turning any stone...

This one is a female. You can see the brownish wash clearly here.

Some cute acts!

It definitely looks much better in breeding plumage.

Now here's a male; pure white crown with black streaks.

I still have more photos of these turnstones left.
I'll be uploading them later in other post.

7 comments:

Chris said...

Hi,
Wow you got him very well in all positions ;-) Well done my friend, these are splendid pictures.

Mark Young said...

Excellent set of images! Congrats. The birds do look spectacular in their breeding plumage.

Stuart Price said...

Nice shots, they do indeed look nice in summer colours.........

Russell Jenkins said...

Lovely series of photographs. You got the colours and lighting right on.

Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok said...

Thanks a lot for all comments!
Too bad last time I checked, the birds had already gone.
The common whimbrels and tattlers were still staying around though...

Phil Slade said...

Its good to see the Turnstones in their summer plumage because we rarely do over here, just their duller winter feathers. They really merge well into the background in your lovely set of pics.

Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok said...

Thanks Phil!
There are not so many waders during winter in Japan. Most of them are passage migrants during spring and autumn. So, contrastingly, I don't often see waders in their winter plumage...