Autumn is a wonderful time to explore the marshes and estuaries of coastal North Carolina. With a combintion of year round residents, magratory species passing through, and those that spend their winters here, there’s a wonderful variety of shorebirds to be found. While exploring one of the local estuaries with my kayak I found a large number of birds clustered to gether on a shoal during high tide. As is often the case it was a mixed flock with Dunlins, Willets, Terns, Black Skimmers and Short Billed Dowitchers all sharing a gradually shrinking patch of sand. Here are a few photos of some of the Short Billed Dowitchers.