Pre-rain blitz Wrightsville Beach (05Mar2014)

Knowing that it will be raining and cold next three days I took an early morning jaunt to the South end of Wrightsville Beach to see if I could get an interesting Loon or a Red-necked Grebe.

Just at the tip of the sand spit I lucked into some nice Piping Plover and Semi-palmated Plover.

Nice coloration comparison between the much lighter Piping Plover versus the much darker Semi-palmated Plover.

                       Semi-palmated Plover

                     Piping Plover

There were tons of Loons but almost all seemed like obvious Common Loons.  There was one exception.

Here he/she is stretching. My guess is that this is a transitional plumage Common Loon but inviting any differing opinions.  the lighter band on neck is the giveaway.

This was the only loon I saw that had dark plumage coming in under the chin.

Great times.