September 12th Ben and I braved the winds and spatter on Park Point, and were rewarded with mixed flocks of Sanderlings and Buff-breasted Sandpipers. I counted 37 Sanderlings and four Buff-breasteds, but there were probably more of both species: birds were constantly coming and going between the dune grass/beach pea and the wrack line. Only a few birds remained long outside of cover. I couldn't blame them. Thousands of ladybugs were crawling in the wrack, too; little orange bodies dot all the images.
http://198.174.119.50/tmp/20040912/index.html Top photo of the set is a Semipalmated Sandpiper (as far as I know) from August 14th on Park Point. That big bill caught my eye, as did the bird's fairly bright coloration, but what caught my attention even more than its looks was the fact that it defended its feeding territory against the other Semipalmated Sandpipers. It held a stretch of shoreline about 20 feet from end to end, and would call and fluff its feathers and then fly at any intruder (all of which were juv. Semipalmated Sandpipers). This was the only time I've seen a migrating juv. Semi chase its own kind off, as far as I can remember. But then I don't see many shorebirds any more. How common is this behavior among Semis? Chris ===== Chris Mansfield Richfield, Hennepin Co. MN [email protected] __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
