A Semi-palmated Plover feeding on the shore.
SMALL NUMBERS OF SEMI-PALMATED PLOVERS AND
WESTERN SANDPIPERS DELIGHTED on the sandy shore at Stone Harbor. Although the
Piping Plovers that breed here in the summer were now gone there were still
plenty of other shorebirds to watch, in between the dumb beach walkers who
persisted in walking along the water’s edge. Given time it was possible to get
very close to them, lying on the ultra fine sand. Sanderlings from the High
Arctic were the commonest shorebirds but were also joined by a few Red Knot and
Dunlin. Two Red Knot, Black-bellied Plovers and a couple of juvenile Semi-palmated
Plovers also enlivened my visits. The second, with Wildside guide and ex-pat
Brit Adrian Binns, was ‘with the lights on’ in lovely evening sun that improved
on my rather flat photos from the first session. The shorebirds were also more
approachable here than back home. I’ll be back!
Western Sandpiper