{"id":15784,"date":"2014-09-06T05:02:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-06T11:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15784"},"modified":"2026-02-02T07:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:36:21","slug":"today-is-world-shorebirds-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/06\/today-is-world-shorebirds-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Today is World Shorebirds Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Shorebirds Day<\/span><\/a> is a celebration. Shorebirds, those extreme migrants,\u00a0as well as people, who do the most for<\/span> them, are celebrated each year, on the 6th of September.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"AlertAlert Ruddy Turnstone – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/500, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 330mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Shorebirds were my bird photography spark birds and\u00a0they ignited the fire I have within me to go out into the field as often as possible to photograph all wild birds doing what they want to do where they want to do it. Shorebirds sparked me into improving my photographic skills and lit my desire to learn as much about them as possible. From the tiniest Least Sandpiper to the larger Long-billed Curlews, shorebirds fascinate and delight me.<\/p>\n

About half of the shorebirds in the world are in decline and a few might not make it the next 2 decades if we don’t help them now. Habitat destruction, human disturbance and climate change are the biggest threats to these amazing birds.<\/p>\n

World Shorebirds <\/a><\/strong>Day<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span> was created with the following aims:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. To raise public awareness about\u00a0the need to protect shorebirds and their habitats throughout their life cycles;<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. To raise public awareness about\u00a0the need for ongoing shorebird research;<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. To connect people with shorebirds through important shorebird sites around the world;<\/em><\/li>\n
  4. To get shorebird enthusiasts to introduce shorebirds to more birdwatchers<\/span>;<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. To raise awareness about\u00a0the need for increased funding for shorebird research, monitoring and conservation.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I am blessed to live in an area of the Great Basin that\u00a0has millions of shorebirds because of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem, some of these shorebirds breed here and some are migrants that visit during their long migrations.<\/p>\n

    My world is much richer because of shorebirds and my photography and I hope that my images inspire people to appreciate and protect them.<\/p>\n

    Happy World Shorebirds Day!<\/p>\n

    Mia<\/p>\n

    Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ruddy Turnstone photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

    PS: This Ruddy Turnstone was photographed in October of 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park’s north beach. It was very uncommon for me to see Ruddy Turnstones perched on anything. I was more used to seeing them in the water or on the sand. I took quite a few images of this turnstone before someone walked behind me and flushed the bird, this frame was taken just before the turnstone flew off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Shorebirds were my bird photography spark birds and they ignited the fire I have within me to go out into the field as often as possible to photograph all wild birds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,292],"tags":[4540,4439,4021,4897,5229,5132,4077,4246,1712,274,5762,5837,4622,2656],"class_list":["post-15784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-ruddy-turnstones","tag-alert","tag-arenaria-interpres","tag-bird-photography","tag-branch","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-ruddy-turnstone","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-spark-birds","tag-turnstone","tag-turnstones","tag-world-shorebirds-day"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-alerrt-mia-mcpherson-5052.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-46A","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":44280,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/01\/08\/ruddy-turnstone-aba-bird-of-the-year-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":15784,"position":0},"title":"Ruddy Turnstone – ABA Bird of the Year 2017","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 8, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago the ABA announced the 2017 Bird of the Year as the Ruddy Turnstone and I couldn't be any happier because shorebirds were my \"spark\" birds that propelled me into the world of bird photography.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone side view at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-beach-mia-mcpherson-6243.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/31\/shorebirds-of-fort-de-soto-ruddy-turnstones\/","url_meta":{"origin":15784,"position":1},"title":"Shorebirds of Fort DeSoto – Ruddy Turnstones","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the easier medium-sized shorebirds to identify on Fort De Soto's beaches and tidal mudflats are the Ruddy Turnstones. The only other turnstone that frequents North America is the Black Turnstone and it occurs on the Pacific coast.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird ID"","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone in breeding plumage, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-mia-mcpherson-fort-de-soto-male-breeding-6188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-mia-mcpherson-fort-de-soto-male-breeding-6188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-mia-mcpherson-fort-de-soto-male-breeding-6188.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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really fascinating to me is that within two days of fledging Ruddy Turnstone chicks embark on their first migration to their wintering grounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone profile at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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