Least Sandpiper at Wreck Beach

Myriam (Myr's Bytes)

Least_sandpiper_july_2015b

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”!

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    1. 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 :-)!

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      1. 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.

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        1. 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.

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          1. 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!

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