Pectoral Sandpiper – Page 6 – 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.

Plovers & Pipits

The high tide was not going to be very high at all today, but I still ventured out to Boundary Bay. Early in the walk I was not turning up any shore birds at all.

Even the Peregrine Falcon was left to harass some of the waterfowl without success. Eventually in front of the mansion a Greater Yellowlegs, Long-billed Dowitcher and a handful of Pectoral Sandpipers showed up.

I did manage this shot of a Pectoral Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs together which is kind of interesting showing the size difference between the two species. On my way back things were not looking much brighter. On the birding front that is, it was a beautiful afternoon to be out for a walk. Then some movement out in the sand caught my eye.

There was a small group of Semipalmated Plovers resting,

… tucked in amongst some seaweed and other vegetation.

This one was a little more out in the open,

… and allowed for this shot stretching its wings while on one leg. From here I headed to the pilings. Still no shore birds, but another recent arrival was present.

Some American Pipits were busy foraging for insects. They will show up along the shore line and neighbouring fields at this time of year when migrating south.

I set up low and close to the pilings and hoped for the best. This particular bird did alight on one of the stumps not too far off. I was happy to end the walk with these shots. These slender little birds can be difficult to get at times.

Pectoral & Savannah

Back out to Boundary Bay for my walk this afternoon. Tides were not ideal, but you never know what you may find. There was nothing going on at the pilings so I carried on to the mansion. It was quiet there as well on my arrival.

Then some Pectoral Sandpipers started to arrive. There was around 50 and I scanned them all closely hoping to find a Sharp-tailed, but no such luck.

Today’s activity shots for the Pectoral Sandpipers,

… was bath time. Several took to splashing about in the water.

Then they settled in along the waters edge. There were a few peeps mixed in with them along with a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs, but nothing out of the ordinary made an appearance. On my way back I stopped at the pilings for a while. Not a single shore bird showed up while I was there. During my recent visits to this area I had noticed some other regular visitors to the pilings.

A flock of Savannah Sparrows routinely show up and spend time here.

So I took a little time to try a get a couple of shots of them before calling it a day.