Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Sandpiper

Great Blue Heron, imm.

On our canoe ride, in addition to fighting Purple Loosestrife, we also saw some wonderful birds. A Spotted Sandpiper rose up from the far shore and flew across the water. One give-away to its ID is this stiff, low flight, where the wings do not seem to come above the horizontal. We then saw 3 more spotties on our travels, good numbers for our cove. Spotted Sandpipers breed in summer on waterways across much of the mid and upper U.S. and Canada.

We also saw an immature Great Blue Heron, told from the adult by its solid black cap. It stared at us cluelessly, then lazily flew behind some reeds, a teenager learning about the world. Good to know they successfully bred near here this year.