Not-So-Solitary Sandpipers

Here's another couple of our Solitary Sandpiper buddies who stop by during their spring travels (AKA migration). These pictures were taken the same day and basically the same time as the Solitary Sandpiper and Lesser Yellowlegs in yesterday's post; as I was photographing 1 I began to notice more and more shorebirds foraging in the area. Despite the solitary in the name, they will forage in the same vicinity if the pickings are good.

Having said that, the sandpiper below might not have been foraging, but might be taking a break. I generally expect a typical shorebird [1] to be foraging in shallow water, though I'm sure that if a tasty invertebrate were spotted on a log, the shorebird would have no ethical or culinary qualms about eating it.

May 9, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 282305522, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

This next picture is "classic shorebird", standing in shallow water. The ripples centered under the bill suggest it had just poked its bill in the water, and the open mouth implies it either successfully found something small to eat or perhaps that it only got some brook debris that it'll readily discard [2].

May 9, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 282306128, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

 

[1] Killdeer are weird, and frequently seen in parking lots or other open, mostly dry areas.

[2] I don't remember any post-picture behavior that would tell us whether the foraging attempt was successful or not.


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