Photo Study Of Stilt Sandpipers At Pine Run Reservoir (Bucks County), September 13th, 2010 And Again On September 18th, 2010

    August Mirabella reported a fall-out of shorebirds at Pine Run Reservoir yesterday. Rob Fergus and I birded there this morning and, unfortunately, most of the shorebirds had
    gone out with the high pressure system that came through our area during the night. In any event, we did see five Stilt Sandpipers as well as some Least Sandpipers,
    Semipalmated Sandpipers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Semipalmated Plovers, Killdeer and a Baird's Sandpiper. For me, the Stilt Sandpipers provided a very nice photo op:

Stilt Sandpipers At Pine Run

And For Comparative Purposes (these two birds were standing about three feet from one another!)

  
Stilt Sandpiper                                                                                                                       Lesser Yellowlegs

    The Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) is seldom found on open sand. The Stilt Sandpiper prefers shallow pools, where it wades up to its belly on its long yellow-green legs.
    This medium-sized shorebird (8.5 inches in length with a wingspan of 18 inches) is most often seen in migration, especially near the East Coast. In North America, the Stilt
    Sandpiper is fairly unique. Its closest relative appears to be the Curlew Sandpiper of Eurasia. Stilt Sandpipers breed on the Arctic coastal plain from Alaska's Prudhoe Bay
    eastward to Canada's Franklin Bay and the southern coast of Victoria Island. Separate populations breed near Churchill, Manitoba, and Cape Henrietta Maria. Stilt
    Sandpipers winter across a wide range and at many disconnected locations from South Carolina through Central America. South-central South America probably hosts the
    majority of wintering Stilt Sandpipers. Like Dowitchers, Stilt Sandpipers often probe submerged mud with rapid, perpendicular strokes, often described as a sewing
    machine-like motion. These birds consume beetle and mosquito larvae, water bugs, snails, flies, crane flies, and adult beetles. Seeds picked from the water or dry ground can
    make up nearly one-third of its diet, depending upon availability. (Wikipedia; Cornell BNA; Audubon)

Note: I returned to Pine Run Reservoir on Saturday, September 18th, and found two more Stilt Sandpipers. I added the photographs below with the green captions!

To see a larger image of any of the photos below, please click on either the thumbnails or the captions...thanks!

 Revised September 18th, 2010

Howard B. Eskin 2010     Please email your comments to hbeskin@voicenet.com       Please click here to go back to Bird Webpage Index