Spotted SandpiperMay 2009
 



The terrific aspect of the spotted sandpiper is its spots. No other sandpiper has round spots on its chest, which makes identification fairly straightforward.

The spotted sandpiper is a smaller sandpiper, about the size of a cedar waxwing, or, for a more common measurement, significantly smaller than an American robin.)

The following spots are less than perfectly round; nevertheless, I'm sure it's a spotted sandpiper.
 

Spotted sandpiper stalking
 
  I always enjoy a good reflection, and for some reason I seem to take spotted sandpiper photos when the sandpiper is walking across shallow water.

And here we have classically round spots.
 

Spotted sandpiper
 
  The only downside to spotted sandpiper identification is that the sandpiper loses its spots in the fall and winter, leaving the shorebird with a white breast. Somewhere I've a photo of one, and someday I might find it.

Photo note: I used a Pentax *ist D in May 2008 and a K200D in May 2009, each with SMC 1000mm reflex lens.




My Pennsylvania bird list

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