Blog – Page 103 – CrazyM Bird & Nature Photography

Peeps, Plovers & Pecs

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, shore birds have been the theme for a while now. With the migration still ongoing and the chance of locating the odd rarity, it was back out to Boundary Bay around noon to catch the rising tide. As usual my walk started from 104 St. and headed west from there.

First up this afternoon,

… was this lone Western Sandpiper.

While it is more common to find them in groups or with other birds,

… every once in a while there will be the odd man out. Not long after leaving this little fellow, another reason for coming back today.

The American Golden-Plovers were still present.

This one tucked away resting,

… and then getting up and doing a nice stretch. Notice no black armpit like the Black-bellied Plover.

The last outing where I managed some distant, but decent shots, was far too short.

Today I was able to get much closer,

… and spend more time with not one, but two birds. While photographing these birds I noticed a couple of other groups further along the beach that I decided to check out.

The first was a pair of Baird’s Sandpipers,

… that were also quite cooperative. Up next,

… was about six Pectoral Sandpipers. I wanted to check this group out for possible Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, but no such luck today.

In with them was a Least Sandpiper. While it was initially resting and facing away from me,

… it started foraging and passed by right in front of me. Then I made my way back,

… locating the American Golden-Plovers pretty much where I had left them. At this point another photographer was making his way towards me. Having had some good quality time with them already, I slowly backed out so as to not flush the birds and pointed them out to him. John thanked me for the gesture and was appreciative of the opportunity to photograph these birds. Being such wonderful day I stuck around a while longer after the high tide.

The American Pipits were still plentiful along the beach,

… but I did not spend a whole lot of time with them.

I spent more time watching the groups of Pectoral Sandpipers. They were still coming and going as the sun was going down,

… but I still could not turn one into a Sharp-tailed. None the less, a fairly productive day.

American Golden-Plover

Given the wonderful weather we have been having, today’s overcast skies and cooler temperatures was a change of pace. After starting my walk at Boundary Bay it was not long before I noticed some movement just west of 104 St. At first glance I could make out some American Pipits. But on closer examination, something larger caught my eye.

It was an American Golden-Plover.

It has been about three years since I was last able to photograph one.

The American Golden-Plover will venture in closer to the dyke and away from the main flocks of Black-bellied Plovers. This can make it a little easier to get photos of one.

The American Golden-Plover is a regular, but uncommon visitor at this time of year while migrating from the arctic all the way to South America.

One of our regular plovers for this area is the Killdeer.

The Killdeer can usually be seen year round and also nests in this area. The Black-bellied Plovers were also present in large numbers today, but as usual were not going to let me get close. That is OK though, with American Golden-Plover already stealing the spotlight.

Semipalmated Plovers

Despite the lack of activity of late, I was back out at Boundary Bay a couple of hours before the high tide. The shoreline and tidal pools were quiet once again, but realizing this might be the case, there was a “Plan B”. This involved scanning some of the dryer areas further out for a shore bird that prefers these conditions, the Semipalmated Plover. It was not long before I located a small flock about 200m out from the pilings. As they were the only game in town, so to speak, I took my time approaching. The final 20m of the approach was down on my knees slowly moving the camera on the tripod in front of me. It took a little time, but was worth it as I managed to get fairly close without spooking the birds.

After all that the first photo was not of a plover, but a Western Sandpiper with them.

Then the Semipalmated Plovers started to work their way in front of me.

I tried to position myself in the middle of the group,

… hoping to improve my chances of getting multiple birds going by.

Once in this close,

… you want to keep your movement to a minimum.

At times they would move away, but then come back towards me again.

Then the Western Sandpiper trekked by once more.

Both the Semipalmated Plover and Western Sandpiper are fairly small,

… so being able to get this close certainly helps to get better photos. It was just shy of an hour I spent with these birds. I think that qualifies “Plan B” as a success.