With the weather moving in today, I knew I wanted to check the Black Dirt Region for shorebirds after work this evening. It was mostly quiet until I found a single field with a decent sized collection of shorebirds, maybe 40 or so birds. One bird stood out immediately; I did what I could to document it before the rain came down in full force. While I sat in my car in the rain, I put the word out and sent photos. John Haas responded very quickly, identifying the bird as a SANDERLING. Sanderling was on my short list, but I certainly wasn’t sure about it. Big thanks to John and everyone that weighed in. Other species present were Least Sandpipers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, and Killdeer. I’ll leave you with this reminder: BAD WEATHER = GOOD BIRDS = TERRIBLE PICS.
