Visitors From the North

The day before our trip to Assateague Island five Snowy Owls were reported there by several folks.  None were visible during our visit in spite of our best efforts to find one. 

Thankfully, the inlet in Ocean City harbors many different birds that have come south for the winter.  First is the Ruddy Turnstone.  These were numerous and energetically feeding on mussels left on the rocky jetty at low tide...

 

In the next photo the Ruddy Turnstones are flying over a group of Surf Scoters swimming in the inlet...

Also in the inlet was a Red-breasted Merganser that stays out of good camera range...

This Common Loon was more cooperative, allowing me to capture my best images of this species to date...

The second most plentiful northern visitors were the Purple Sandpipers...

Only one Sanderling was visible but it held it's own when eating the plentiful mussels...

Gulls of different types were a constant presence both along the jetty...

And in the air...

As luck would have it, the day after our visit there were six Snowy Owls reported on Assateague.  Go figure!