Sanderling

Description:

In their winter plumage these little sandpipers have to be the cutest of all the shorebirds. Like round cotton balls with little black bills. There were about 10 of them with a flock of 200-400 dunlin (pic4). In pics 2 and 3 you can see the Sanderlings trying to catch up on rest.

Habitat:

Spotted at Bottle Beach State Park as tide was out.

Notes:

Much of migration is accomplished in long nonstop flights between key stopover points. Studies show that many individuals return year after year to same wintering sites. One-year-old birds may remain through summer on the southern wintering grounds.