Rachelle Vance's photostream  

thank you for your help in id'ing this one for me :-)

I was lucky to get an "action" shot of the Ruddy Turnstone flipping this shell~

Interesting facts:
easily recognized by its distinctive habit of flipping shells and rocks to feed on concealed aquatic items. The breeding plumage's harlequin pattern is uncommonly observed in southern Florida, as it only winters in our region, at this season it has dark breast markings and bright orange legs.

24mm
f 16
0.8 sec

playing with exposures @ the airport. I found anything longer than this completely blurred out the people walking by and they became invisible, and I wanted this type of effect.

I was watching the shore birds dance around by the water on the beach in Fort De Soto park near the pier when we noticed an Osprey nest near the Bait Shop. He was diving straight toward me - the look in his eyes tells me he has already spotted his fish in the ocean! I wasn't able to track him after this and although I waited around for a bit, he didn't return with his catch ~

Interesting Osprey Facts:
Virtually cosmopolotian, being absent only from the tundra and the Antarctic. Its basic requirements are water and fish. Eagle-sized, the head and neck are largely white. When soaring, the Osprey kinks the wings at the "wrist", rendering it unmistakable in flight. Nests are huge and added to every year. The Florida race is entirely white-headed and wholly white below.

G. Michael Flieg
Allan Sander
Birds of Southern Florida