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Evangeline Beach Shorebirds Part Three

October 31, 2024  •  Leave a Comment

Semipalmated Sandpipers are amazing flyers. One of their major stopovers is at the head of the Bay of Fundy. A large cluster rested on the sand and mud flats adjacent to the eastern end of Evangeline Beach. Others were clustered in the shore grasses. I photographed this melee using a 70-200mm lens in order to capture most of the Semipalmated Sandpipers in one frame.

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

Description

It is a small sandpiper, 15–18 cm (5.9-7.1 in) long and weighing around 18-51.5 g (0.6-1.8 oz).[3] Wingspan ranges from 13.8 to 14.6 in (35-37 cm).[4] Adults have black legs and a short, stout, straight dark bill. The body is dark grey-brown on top and white underneath. The head and neck are tinged light grey-brown. This bird can be difficult to distinguish from other similar tiny shorebirds, in particular the western sandpiper; these are known collectively as "peeps" or "stints".

Breeding and habitat

Their breeding habitat is the southern tundra in Canada and Alaska near water. They nest on the ground. The male makes several shallow scrapes; the female chooses one and adds grass and other material to line the nest. The female lays 4 eggs; the male assists in incubation. After a few days, the female leaves the young with the male; the young feed themselves.

These birds forage on mudflats, picking up food by sight and feel (bill). They mainly eat aquatic insects and their larvae, spiders, snails, worms[5] and crustaceans. Semipalmated sandpipers rely heavily on horseshoe crab eggs during spring migration.[5] Females will also eat small mammal bones as an extra source of calcium during egg laying.[5]

Status and migration

They are long distance migrants and winter in coastal South America, with some going to the southern United States and the Caribbean. They migrate in flocks which can number in the hundreds of thousands, particularly in favoured feeding locations such as the Bay of Fundy and Delaware Bay. This species is a rare but regular vagrant to western Europe.

Although very numerous, these birds are highly dependent on a few key stopover habitats during their migration, notably Mary's Point and Johnson's Mills along Shepody Bay, an arm of the Bay of Fundy.[6] During the months of July and August, the Nature Conservancy of Canada runs an information center about these shorebirds in Johnson's Mills, New Brunswick.[7]

The Shorebirds at the Guzzle, near the east end of Evangeline Beach

Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1000Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1000 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1001Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1001 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1002Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1002 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1003Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1003 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1004Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1004 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1005Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1005 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1006Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1006 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1007Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1007 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1008Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1008 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1009Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1009 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1010Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1010 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1011Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1011 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1012Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1012 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1013Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1013 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1014Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1014 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1015Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1015 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1016Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1016 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1017Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1017 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1018Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1018 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1019Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1019 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1020Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1020 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1021Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1021 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1022Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1022 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1023Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1023 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1024Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1024 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1025Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1025 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1026Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1026 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1027Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1027 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1028Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1028 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1029Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1029 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1030Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1030 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1031Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1031 Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1032Peeps Evangeline Beach 2024 1032


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