- Jun 23 12:24 pm
#48957
I just finished finalizing some photos from February and came across several that caused me to recall some odd encounters. At least so it seemed at the time.
I was at Blackie Spit on a sunny but cold day. I think the temperature was something like -3 degrees Celsius. Normally I worry about my camera at such temperatures.
I noticed some Shorebirds moving along the shoreline (naturally) and was surprised to see that there were at least two species present. The larger birds were clearly Dunlins, a bird expected at such locations and dates. But what were the smaller birds? I spotted a couple of obvious Birders with a scope and walked over to ask them. Alas, they had not noticed that there were two species of Shorebirds. The husband told me that they came once a week and did a bird count and reported the results to Nature Vancouver (I think it was). Intrigued, they went closer to see the birds as they had never seen this multi-species behaviour before.
The small ones had black legs, so we decided that they were Western Sandpipers in Winter plumage and hunched over to minimize their surface area.
Some Westerns were also foraging in the grass at Blackie Spit.
What I later learned from an Elder, and it made sense, is that these Shorebirds had been living in the farming fields of Delta and Surrey and the cold weather had frozen the ground and pools of water. So they moved from the fields to the shoreline where they were likely more exposed to predation, but could at least feed. A behaviour that demonstrates some level of intelligence.
The freezing temperatures also explained why I had seen about 20 Killdeer on the Spit at the same time. Likely they had moved from the frozen fields to the Spit for sustenance too.
And also a BB Plover was moving along the shoreline too for the same reason.
I was at Blackie Spit on a sunny but cold day. I think the temperature was something like -3 degrees Celsius. Normally I worry about my camera at such temperatures.
I noticed some Shorebirds moving along the shoreline (naturally) and was surprised to see that there were at least two species present. The larger birds were clearly Dunlins, a bird expected at such locations and dates. But what were the smaller birds? I spotted a couple of obvious Birders with a scope and walked over to ask them. Alas, they had not noticed that there were two species of Shorebirds. The husband told me that they came once a week and did a bird count and reported the results to Nature Vancouver (I think it was). Intrigued, they went closer to see the birds as they had never seen this multi-species behaviour before.
The small ones had black legs, so we decided that they were Western Sandpipers in Winter plumage and hunched over to minimize their surface area.
Some Westerns were also foraging in the grass at Blackie Spit.
What I later learned from an Elder, and it made sense, is that these Shorebirds had been living in the farming fields of Delta and Surrey and the cold weather had frozen the ground and pools of water. So they moved from the fields to the shoreline where they were likely more exposed to predation, but could at least feed. A behaviour that demonstrates some level of intelligence.
The freezing temperatures also explained why I had seen about 20 Killdeer on the Spit at the same time. Likely they had moved from the frozen fields to the Spit for sustenance too.
And also a BB Plover was moving along the shoreline too for the same reason.
- By GMcD