We are on an outing to North Carolina for some warmer weather and beach walking. It’s been quite windy but things have improved, as has the birding. We stay in Manteo and usually visit the national seashore daily.
Here’s a young Herring Gull and then an older model.
And a Whimbrel watched from a distance.
When you only get to the beach a few times a year, it’s always (for me) a challenge to sort out the shorebirds. Plovers, sandpipers, peeps, all moving all the time. This year we saw many Black-bellied Plovers in various phases of plumage.
Easier for me are the bigger guys, like this Whimbrel and his Willet companion.
No one can mistake these Laughing Gulls when they hear and/or see them.
I’ll leave you with an image of a crab that we found while walking — it’s an Atlantic Ghost Crab. Thanks, iNaturalist
