California Birds -- Black Turnstone

This was a new bird for me in January '09, but I got this great video in October when I visited again. The Black Turnstone is, of course, closely related to the Ruddy Turnstone that we'll see in Louisiana on the coast. The Turnstones are named for their peculiar habit of flipping stones and other objects with their bill to catch the critters hiding underneath. I have a video of that somewhere...will have to find it!

Black Turnstone - Pillar Point, Half Moon Bay, CA from Jane Patterson on Vimeo.