It's getting a little late for shorebirds (this year) but I managed to find a few out near McLoughlin Bay. I was walking eastbound along the shore with the sun in my eyes being very careful to scan the wet line for movement and saw nothing, at first. A slight jog to the bay revealed nothing of interest so I veered back to the stony beach and just then a flock of Ruddy Turnstone took flight. I did it again. I always get side-tracked or have my concentration waver just before something of interest appears. Turns out that I encountered the flock again later, but those birds were behaving very skittish. As I approached the cordoned-off zone for nesting Piping plovers I spotted a Dunlin to my left in shallow water and well illuminated by the sun. I was just deciding where to hunker down when I spotted a Piping plover a few meters away and definitely outside the no-go area. I immediately froze. While not looking directly at the little plover I turned right toward the lake and stepped as close to the water as possible, then slowly maneuvered myself flush with the perimeter rope. I then settled down on the stones just inches from the water. I had a piece of driftwood behind my back and another one in front of me. The Dunlin took off and the Piping plover foraged for quite some time, even traipsing much farther from the protected zone. A few Semipalmated sandpiper were within the no-go zone and into the sun from my position. While waiting for the plover to return home to its nest within the protected zone behind me I noticed a single Turnstone not far away from me. It must have been following me while I was scanning the beach ... cheeky little devil. That's more like it! I like the idea of a shorebird following me instead of the other way around. When things like that happen in the field (on the beach) it just enables me and makes my hat too tight, and in this blazing sun I can't very well take it off, ... can I?
