Sanderlings, Parker River NWR, Plum Island, MA

A lone Sanderling feeding amongst the rocks at Sandy Point, Plum Island, MA; 11/11/2011.

A month ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing a grain of Sanderlings playing and feeding in the waves off of Sandy Point on Plum Island in Massachusetts. The Sanderling (Above) was a bit unusual to be on its own as they are more often found in medium to large flocks (or "grains" as whatbird.com would tell you ... http://offline.whatbird.com/obj/214/_/Sanderling.aspx ). 

The rock-strewn beach at Sandy Point on the southern tip of Plum Island was a great place to find sea and shorebirds, Massachusetts; 11/11/2011.

Sanderlings are among one of the worlds most distributed shorebirds as they can be found in five continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and both North & South America). In the our continent they will be found in extreme northern Canada and in the Arctic Circle during the summer months. In winter they will migrate south and will put up residence along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts on sandy beaches which produce lots of oceanic wave action.

Sanderlings flying over the Atlantic scouting out beaches to aid their feeding frenzy, Plum Island, Massachusetts; 11/11/2011.

A pair of Sanderlings flying over the Sandy Point Beach, Plum Island, Massachusetts; 11/11/2011.

This late in the year, Sanderlings will already be in their non-breeding plumage (Above), mostly white underneath with pale gray back, tail and crown, and a darker shoulder and tips of its primaries with a broad white stripe which can be seen when in flight (Above two pics). Because they spend their summer months in the Arctic, we very seldom get to see their wonderfully colorful reddish breeding plumage.

Val's late evening photo of a grain of Sanderlings in full breeding plumage, Pistol River Beach, Oregon; 7/13/2007

A few summers ago (well before I became more serious about bird photography) while Val and I were exploring the beautiful Oregon Coast and taking photos of a gorgeous sunset (Below), Val was fascinated by a small flock of sandpipers chasing waves in and out and she took some pics (Above). These happened to be Sanderlings in their breeding plumage, with reddish heads and wings giving way to a mottled gray and red near their primaries. This reddish color was beautifully contrasted by their white bellies and underneath the tails.

Tomorrow, I will feature a few photos of these fun birds chasing waves.

As the Sanderlings were chasing waves, Val and I were chasing sunsets, Pistol River Viewpoint, Oregon; 7/13/2007.

Sanderling and Laughing Gulls, Isla Mujeres, Mexico

The north coast of Isla mujeres, Mexico; 12/20/10.

On December 20, we decided to take a ferry and spend the day on Isla Mujeres (Isle of Women) about a 30 minuite boat ride into the Caribbean Sea north of Cancun. According to history, in 1517, Spaniard Francisco Hermandez de Cordoba (a slave hunter) happened upon the island searching for slaves for Cuban mines, and found nothing but old statues which they perceived to be statues of women, thus the name of the island, "Isle of Women".

Present day, this small island (five miles long and less than one mile wide) is a busy tourist stop during the day, but when the last of the ferries take the tourists back to the mainland in the early evening, the island literally goes to sleep. Not that we would know - since we were part of the group of tourists taking a late afternoon ferry back to Cancun. There was a lot of activities to do on the island, including snorkling, ziplining, an underwater museum, and a very cute little town on the western end of the island with beautiful white sand beaches and a marina.
We rented a golf cart at 500 Pesos (about $40) for the day and drove the length of the island exploring the sites.  It only took about 1/2 hour to drive to the other end of the island puttering along in the golf cart. There were also cars on the island, but the ovberwhelming vehicles on the island were golf carts and mopeds.


One of several ziplining towers off shore of Isla Mujeres, Mexico; 12/20/10.

I saw a few birds while visiting the Isle, immediately  upon landing at the dock I saw many Magnificent Frigatebirds (my future 1/28/11 post) and Brown Pelicans ( http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2011/01/brown-pelican.html ), and Cormorants filling the sky and shoreline. During our exploration I also a couple of Great Egrets, several shorebirds, as well as the the usual Great-tailed Grackles ( http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2010/12/great-tailed-grackle_31.html ) , and Tropical Mockingbirds ( http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2011/01/tropical-mockingbird-northern.html ).

A Sanderling in its winter plumage searching for a meal on the rocky shoreline near the sandy beaches of Isla Mujeres, Mexico; 12/20/10.

A Sanderling hanging around a group of Ruddy Turnstones, Isla Mujeres, Mexico; 12/20/10.

Two of the shorebirds I saw were Sanderlings ( Two photos Above) and Laughing Gulls (Below bottom) which I posted about on 1/14/11 ( http://northernillinoisbirder.blogspot.com/2011/01/shorebirds-in-cancun-laughing-gull.html ). The photos of the Sanderlings above are in their non-breeding winter plumage, but a few summers ago while we were exploring the beautiful Oregon Pacific Coastline, Val took a few pics of a flock of Sanderlings scooting along the beach chasing the waves flowing in and out of the beach (Below top). Sanderlings are often seen on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts year round. They chase waves on the beach beacuse the wave action causes invertebrate prey to become available which is the Sanderlings chief food.


A flock of Sanderlings gleening the sand for invertebrates as the waves wash back out to the ocean. These Sanderlings are in their colorful summer plumage; Pistol River Scenic Viewpoint, Oregon; 7/13/07.



A group of Laughing Gulls resting on pylons near an Isla Mujeres beach, Mexico; 12/20/10.

Iguana of the day, Isla Mujeres, Mexico; 12/20/10.