{"id":88064,"date":"2021-05-17T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=88064"},"modified":"2025-09-14T14:00:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T19:00:52","slug":"resting-ruddy-turnstone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/05\/17\/resting-ruddy-turnstone\/","title":{"rendered":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult male Ruddy Turnstone resting on sand – Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1\/500, ISO 160, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

There are times that I like to go back in time by looking at photos I have taken on a specific date throughout the years. Twelve years ago today I was on the beach at Fort De Soto County Park<\/span><\/a> focused on photographing a male Ruddy Turnstone resting on the warm sand with the Gulf behind him.<\/p>\n

I had photographed other birds that morning including American Oystercatchers, Great Blue Herons, White Ibis, Red-winged Blackbirds and a dancing Reddish Egret but my absolute highlight of that morning was this turnstone.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

Because he looked wonderful on the sand with the beautiful color of the Gulf behind him plus he was in his finest breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

Shorebirds were what got me into bird photography and I still love to have them in my viewfinder. I do miss photographing the birds I found in Florida and there are times I wish that I could photograph shorebirds more often than I do here in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

Some Ruddy Turnstones do migrate through Utah during spring migration and it isn’t unusual to read about them being seen on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I just haven’t been fortunate enough to have one in my viewfinder since I moved here. I also probably wouldn’t be able to get as close to a turnstone here as I was able to get to this bird.<\/p>\n

The day I photographed him I was using an entry level 70-300mm lens which doesn’t have as much reach as the gear I use now.<\/p>\n

Maybe I will find a Ruddy Turnstone migrating through Utah one day or I might have to go the Atlantic, Pacific, or Gulf Coasts to see one again. I will always have the memories and images of this turnstone though.<\/p>\n

Today’s date is rather special to me. Today is the date my mother was born. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you, today and always.<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_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":[4004,4439,4039,4053,4142,5229,173,4077,4062,4156,1712,4017,274,4018,5837,4622,3996],"class_list":["post-88064","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-breeding-plumage","tag-close-up","tag-coast","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-male","tag-resting","tag-ruddy-turnstone","tag-sand","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-sky","tag-turnstone","tag-turnstones","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-on-beach-mia-mcpherson-6194.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-mUo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20903,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/11\/resting-ruddy-turnstone-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":88064,"position":0},"title":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone Male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting Ruddy Turnstone male at Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.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-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/ruddy-turnstone-resting-mia-mcpherson-6172.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5916,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/17\/ruddy-turnstones-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":88064,"position":1},"title":"Ruddy Turnstones In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Turnstone close up, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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":1164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/31\/shorebirds-of-fort-de-soto-ruddy-turnstones\/","url_meta":{"origin":88064,"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\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/ruddy-turnstone-shell-mia-mcpherson-4627.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":88064,"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 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":15964,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/25\/morning-treasures-from-six-years-ago-today\/","url_meta":{"origin":88064,"position":5},"title":"Morning Treasures From Six Years Ago Today – Birds On The Beach","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 25, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"These images of birds on the beach were taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach six years ago today on a beautiful morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy Egret in dawn\u2019s light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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