RUDDY TURNSTONE
Arenaria interpres
A plump, short-legged shorebird with
a rusty patchwork pattern above, a white belly, dark upper breast,
and orangey legs. Seeing these shorebirds brazenly scurrying
under—even on—the tables for leftovers at the open-air
restaurants of the resorts, it’s hard to believe they
actually breed in the desolate regions of the Arctic. Look for
turnstones also scuttling along the rock outcroppings of beaches
and busying about on fishing piers.