Surfbird

We found this Surfbird (in non-breeding plumage) on the jetty at Playa del Rey not far from Santa Monica. It's solely a western species--not uncommon on the California coast, but not always easy to see. It's always active, so I was pleased with this shot.  Other nice birds were ruddy turnstones in bright breeding plumage and black oystercatchers.

We're spending the night at the airport (LAX) to catch our 6:40 a.m. flight to Minneapolis, from whence we fly to Bradley.  It will be a long day, though with lots of down time to delete the huge proportion of less-than-perfect bird images :)