Solitary Sandpiper Foraging Alone

At least until I came by, this Solitary Sandpiper was foraging alone. My suspicion is that this shorebird was attempting to feed near a birdwatching platform overlooking a swampy part of Lord Stirling Park [1]. Though this looked like pretty good habitat, this was the only migrating shorebird I saw there. My recollection is that there aren't a lot of legitimate bare shores around here, so Lord Stirling Park might not attract as many shorebirds as some other locations. But it's also possible the numbers were due to bad luck; perhaps if I came back in a couple days I'd have seen a lot more.

And of course, just because Lord Stirling Park might not be a hotbed of shorebird activity, there are other birds (migrating or otherwise) that appreciate the open water, the woods, and the edge habitats that are found throughout the park. (I think I've heard that warblers consider it to be a 4-star rest stop during their migration.)

May 12, 2023 at Lord Stirling Park
Photo 282422296, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] Since the park is part of the Great Swamp ecosystem, a fair amount of the area can be swampy. It is administered differently than Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge - which is administered federally - while Somerset County administers Lord Stirling Park. (Many of the birds, reptiles, and amphibians living at the Refuge and the Park no doubt consider them to be the same place.)

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