Sunday, March 20, 2011

Lesser Sand Plovers

There are so many beautiful shorebirds around right now that it's a bit hard to know where to start. I still have to post about some of the ones I saw out at Inskip Point the other morning, but Neil has done a good preliminary report on that, so I decided to post about the Mullens roost first. It was a beautiful still morning but there was a light cloud cover. As we set out the colors across the bay were mainly gray and silver.
It was another good high tide so we were able to kayak right into the roost and up to the far end. There were plenty of shorebirds around but not nearly so many as a couple of weeks ago. I would guess that I saw only about one third of the numbers compared with the other week. The most exciting sighting was a small flock of Lesser Sand Plovers (Charadrius mongolus) . I can usually find a flock of these birds somewhere on the roost site but they are never easy to get close to. This time I was in the kayak and I can usually approach the birds much closer this way without them being frightened. They were standing at the edge of the sand in shallow water.
I slowly drifted in closer and when the kayak ran aground I slipped out and then approached a little closer by shuffling forward on my knees. Shorebirds are less frightened if the person approaching is not seen as so tall. By looking back at previous photos I think this is the closest I have ever been to these birds. Also many of them were going into breeding plumage and I have never got such good close photos of them like this. The birds were all at different stages of their moult into breeding colors.
These two were not showing any color at all. The bird in the middle front is a Red-necked Stint which looks very small beside these others.
There is a Red-capped Plover out of focus in the right rear of this photo. It also is considerably smaller than the Lesser Sand Plovers.
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14 comments:

  1. I guess these are new to me and they are lovely! They surely know how to choose a beautiful place to hang out. :-)

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  2. I envy you your kayak! They are gorgeous pictures.

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  3. They sure are showing a lot more colour than the last time we saw them. Great photos.

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  4. Hi JM since these birds bread up north from here - hence the name mongolian plovers - they aren't seen in Europe and the USA.

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  5. Hi Sallie, my kayak lets me get around the bay. I bought it soon after I came up here and wouldn't be without it now.

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  6. Hi Neil, I am surprised at how quickly all the birds are changing their plumage right now.

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  7. great shots! good find with so many coming into breeding pulmage

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  8. the Sand Plovers really looks good in that plumage. Great shots as usual Mick.

    My lake is still covered with thick ice. Not a chance to get the kayak out.

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  9. Thanks NatureFootstep. Spring must come soon for you - the shorebirds show that with their colors.

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  10. Wow Mick, these are incredible shots of the Lesser Sand Plovers! I guess that Red-capped Plover is just a bonus!

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  11. Thanks Larry. I was saying "wow" to myself as I got closer and closer and took photos!

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  12. Beautiful photos Mick! I can't wait until the shorebirds arrive here.

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  13. Hi BirdingMaine, and I guess when shorebirds arrive up your way they are already in breeding plumage. That's rather special as most of the time they spend down here they are in their rather drab non-breeding plumage.

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