365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis Macularia
Day 217: While this was not a Life List sighting for me, the only other place I have ever observed Spotted Sandpipers was at Mystic Lake, elevation 5000' in the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park, and that would have been at least thirty years ago. I found two today at the north end of Lake Mackintosh (Thurston County, WA). Their behaviour indicated that they might have been a nesting pair.
Sibley refers to this species as "uncommon but widespread," and shows the Cascade crest (approximately) at the junction of the year-'round range and the migratory route. Lake Mackintosh is only a few hundred feet above sea level and well west of the crest, so if this was indeed a nesting pair, this sighting is interesting from the standpoint of the species' phenology.
Labels:
Actitis macularia,
birding,
birds,
kayaking,
Lake Mackintosh,
Spotted Sandpiper,
uncommon
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