Lindy Low LeCoq

In my last post I mentioned my goal to identify the various shorebirds I was able to photograph. This one was all alone, foraging the shallows along a fresh-water marsh at Long Beach, WA.

alert black eyes watch

solitary stilt walker

edges the shallows

salt and pepper plumes

observant eye on water

Greater Yellowleg

Sibley’s field guide shows me there are several Genus within the Sandpiper (Scolopacidae) family. The Greater Yellowleg is in the Genus Tringa, which has four species. Genus Calidris has fifteen species — all looking somewhat alike — though each with distinct characteristics.

white bellied loner

layered brown feathers atop

wonder who you are

preens with eye on me

unruffled by intrusion

returns to breakfast

I believe this is a Baird’s Sandpiper — “Uncommon on damp upper edges of mudflats and sometimes in short-grass fields.” Sibley 

After three weeks away, much is changing in the marshland between our condominium and the beach. Though rains continue to sweep through the region, the spread of the water is decreasing.

View from our deck 4/24/17

The Mallard couple we watched before, now have a brood of fledges around 1-2 weeks old. When I saw her sitting on the nest, I wondered what she was doing– if you look closely there’s a second little head in the reeds!

See the fledging near her tail feathers?

“Within a week after hatching, Mallard ducklings double their weight…their thick down keeps their skin dry when they’re swimming, but they get cold easily at first, so the mother broods them frequently during the first two weeks.”

4/25/17

“Able to feed themselves, Mallard ducklings don’t beg from their mothers. From the time they leave the nest, they peck at dark spots and small objects; the mother’s job is to bring them to the best feeding areas and protect them.”

Into The Nest, Erickson & Reed; Storey Publishing 2015 (www.storey.com)

Photo Challenge: Earth