A couple of weeks ago, when the blue Vancouver sky was cloaked in a smokey haze from far-away forest fires, my friend D and I headed to Wreck Beach, hoping that the westernmost end of Vancouver would have clearer skies. If not, well, it was a perfectly hot day for a swim in the ocean.
After swimming, we walked along the mudflats by the log booming yard. At a fuzzy visual distance, we saw some sparrow-sized birds moving like sandpipers. Young sandpipers??? The birds flew away before D could get his camera out, but he managed to photograph a similar looking bird a little while later. I thought Sanderling was a nice name for a small sandpiper but after looking at small sandpipers on All About Birds, I decided the bird was a Least Sandpiper (another photograph clearly showed yellow legs). The smallest of the “peeps”!
Very cute. I have a terrible time telling shore birds apart~ I admire your ability to do so!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It took me a while to figure out. I looked at many possibilities on All About Birds. I thought I found my bird but the North American distribution map indicated otherwise. So many little leg and beak and plumage variations to squint one’s eyes at :-)!
LikeLike
Beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
:-). The only thing better than a day at the seashore is a day at the seashore with new birds.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha amen!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
How cool! We didn’t go to Wreck Beach on this visit to Vancouver but we saw some nice birds elsewhere (like Burnaby Mountain and Capilano). 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did you catch the apocalyptic smoky skies? What were your most exciting feathered sightings?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my gosh! The day of the worst smoke (Sunday the 5th), my cousin had the family over (she lives near Brentwood Mall) and had us all sit outside to eat dinner (since her town home is so small). *cough, cough* :}
My favorite was all the Swainson’s Thrushes that we saw everywhere we went, but I think my guys (hubby and kids), who went hiking at more places than I did, saw some more rare and interesting birds. I’ll have to ask them to tell me again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, smoky outdoor dinner! I remember walking outside that day. It felt like a somewhat less hot and smoky version of hanging out inside a barbecue.
Swaison’s Thrushes!!! Cool. I’ve never seen one… but maybe some day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Swainson’s Thrushes have a distinct song…not quite as pretty as a Wood Thrush’s but almost.
And, yeah, that was not a good day to be outdoors for any length of time. 😛 LOL!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the sandpiper “peeps”!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Peep! Just thinking about their peeping and darting about makes me smile :-).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me, too!
LikeLiked by 1 person