First thing this morning, I went to Bullville Pond to see if anything was going on. I had shorebirds (of course) and Little Blue Heron on my mind. Unfortunately it was a bust, so I headed back out to the black dirt, where I eventually joined up with several other birders and finally got the Baird’s Sandpiper. After missing that species last year, I wanted to see one – it had been nearly 2 years! Also present were 50+ Least Sandpipers, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, 5 Buff-breasted Sandpipers, many Killdeer, and a flyover of a Semipalmated Plover. Photos were tough today, so I’m mostly posting more photos from yesterday’s shorebirds and a couple of cowbirds from this morning.
Hi Matt,
The pictures are beautiful! Besides plumage, one of the structures I like looking at are the beaks. We have House Finches and House Sparrows in our back yard. Their beaks look similar to the beaks of cowbirds. I assume they must eat the same types of food. The shorebirds seem to have more elongated beaks and I assume it is for searching deeper for their food sources. This may be completely incorrect but I like the Darwinian connection!
Take care.
John
I like it too – I believe that all birds have evolved in ways that allow them to each excel in their own particular habitats and to access their preferred food source. It’s pretty amazing to think about and to also reflect on how much we, as birders, have to learn as we enjoy this fantastic pastime. These days I spend most of my birding energy looking for and photographing birds. Your comment is making me want to refocus on learning about birds – to get back to doing some more reading, like I used to do when I first started out. Matt