{"id":20903,"date":"2015-03-11T04:44:19","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T10:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20903"},"modified":"2026-02-06T06:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T12:27:39","slug":"resting-ruddy-turnstone-male","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/11\/resting-ruddy-turnstone-male\/","title":{"rendered":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone Male"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RestingResting Ruddy Turnstone male – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/250, ISO 200, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

When I photographed this resting Ruddy Turnstone male on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in 2009 I knew it wouldn’t be long before he migrated to a rocky arctic coast to breed.<\/p>\n

His plumage was much brighter than the birds that had over wintered along the gulf coast.<\/p>\n

Turnstones get their name because they turn things over with their bills looking for prey including the stones found on their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

We have two species of Turnstones in North America, the American and the Black. I have yet to see and photograph Black Turnstones and I sincerely hope that one day I will have that opportunity.<\/p>\n

I do see Ruddy Turnstones here in Utah during their migration but I have never been able to get as close to them as I did when I lived in Florida.<\/p>\n

There were times in Florida that if I laid very still for a long period of time that the turnstones would come so close to me that I could not focus on them with my gear.<\/p>\n

I might have to get some camo gear and sit on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/a> to get close to the Ruddy Turnstones here.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I photographed this resting Ruddy Turnstone male on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in 2009 I knew it wouldn’t be long before he migrated to a rocky arctic coast to breed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156029,"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":[4004,4439,4039,5229,5132,4077,4062,4156,1712,4017,274,5837,4622],"class_list":["post-20903","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-adult","tag-arenaria-interpres","tag-beach","tag-coast","tag-coastal","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-male","tag-resting","tag-ruddy-turnstone","tag-sand","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-turnstone","tag-turnstones"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5r9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88064,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/17\/resting-ruddy-turnstone\/","url_meta":{"origin":20903,"position":0},"title":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Twelve years ago today I was on the beach at Fort De Soto County Park focused on photographing a male Ruddy Turnstone resting on the warm sand with the Gulf behind him.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Ruddy Turnstone resting on sand, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-on-beach-mia-mcpherson-6194.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-on-beach-mia-mcpherson-6194.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-on-beach-mia-mcpherson-6194.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-on-beach-mia-mcpherson-6194.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/28\/ruddy-turnstone-chicks-grow-up-fast\/","url_meta":{"origin":20903,"position":1},"title":"Ruddy Turnstone Chicks Grow Up Fast","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"What is 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ruddy-turnstone-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-5636.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":20903,"position":2},"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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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/ruddy-turnstone-breeding-mia-mcpherson-6256.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44280,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/01\/08\/ruddy-turnstone-aba-bird-of-the-year-2017\/","url_meta":{"origin":20903,"position":4},"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 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