Seward, Alaska
On a beautiful, calm evening just before the sun slid behind the western mountains, I sat down at the tidelands beach to enjoy a feast of shorebirds going about their daily lives.
I almost felt invisible as a GREATER YELLOWLEGS stalked along a creek, delicately selecting one pink salmon egg after another with its chopstick bill for dinner. Behind it, a bright juvenile LEAST SANDPIPER and a juvenile WESTERN SANDPIPER gleaned tiny tidbits from the sand together, providing a nice comparison. At one point, the Least Sandpiper nonchalantly walked over a spent pink salmon carcass on its route.
I held very still as, to my delight, a PECTORAL SANDPIPER, landed nearby and walked towards me, the low sun behind me providing perfect lighting. It probed deep into the water, then poked through the thick green algal wrack. Right behind it followed a LESSER YELLOWLEGS! I think both were lured by the complacency of the Greater Yellowlegs, so intent on its caviar treats.
As a finale, a handsome SAVANNAH SPARROW took a late bath in the warmed shallows.
The mountain shadow crept up, the spotlight faded, and I walked home, elated.
Carol Griswold
Seward Sporadic Bird Report Reporter
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