I was still sleeping from New Year’s Eve, when I was awoken to my phone’s text messages going off. I’m thinking who on earth is texting me at 7:30am, on New Year’s Day! I reached for my phone to silence it, so I could go back to bed. Obviously, I had to see who it was and when I saw it was our group text, I clicked on it and saw Purple Sandpiper at McKinley Marina. So much for any extra sleep! I raced down there, and it was still around. An awesome way to start the new year off. It was in the corner of the marina, where the walkway starts for the fisherman’s pier. There is a little patch of sand that has built up, which it was feeding on. It was cold and windy, with waves crashing over the rocks spraying water everywhere. It was still very early and pretty dark, making it extremely challenging for pictures. Thankfully it was very close for viewing, that I could take off my extender and shoot at a 600mm, with a F-stop of 4, allowing more light into my camera. A nice bonus for using a lens like that! It sounds like a good amount of people were able to view it, before it flew off about 9:15am, with a Ruddy Turnstone. The turnstone has been around for a while but wasn’t there until closer to 9. I can’t imagine they left, rather just flew out and sat in the rocks somewhere. Might be worth a check early tomorrow morning. Good luck! Pictures below are from the morning. Enjoy!
Providing a realistic experience to wildlife
