Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
The Dunlin (Calidris alpina) are really starting to molt into their breeding plumage now, with birds like this one at Stratford Point in Stratford, Connecticut coming along nicely. Once it wraps up changing into its summer suit it will be on its way to the tundra. You can see so many shorebirds in May, and just in the last couple days at this one site there were also Semipalmated Plovers, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitchers, Black-bellied Plovers, Piping Plovers, American Oystercatchers, Lesser Yellowlegs, Killdeer and Least Sandpipers, all being recorded by us in...
Read MoreSanderlings (Calidris alba) by Scott Kruitbosch
These Sanderlings (Calidris alba) were feeding along the gentle waves of Long Island Sound today in Stratford, Connecticut. Note that the bird on the far right has a silver federal band that I unfortunately could not read. They were part of a group of over 100 combined Sanderling and Dunlin (Calidris alpina). The two species are typically found together in Connecticut through the winter but I was excited to see any shorebirds and many other spring waterbirds will be arriving shortly.
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