If you're a birder, you'll know what a life list is. It's basically a list of all the bird species one has observed and positively ID'd in one's lifetime. This blog is a record of my "critter" life list (mostly of birds), including photos I've taken over the years, some of the actual lifer if I was lucky enough to get the shot. Don't expect National Geographic quality stuff here, just the work of an amateur photog who loves to trudge out into nature.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Sanderling (Calidris alba)

11/3/02 Crystal Cove State Park (between Newport Coast and Laguna Beach), Orange County, CA 
11/3/02 Crystal Cove State Park 
11/3/02 Crystal Cove State Park 
4/13/02 Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, Orange County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Sanderling

SPECIES: Calidris alba

LIFE LIST DATE: 4/13/2002

LOCATION: Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, Orange County, CA

From Kaufman Focus Guide: Birds of North America:

HABITAT:  The small pale sandpiper that runs up and down the beach, chasing the waves. While most sandpipers are actually "mudpipers," this one really does inhabit sandy beaches, usually in small flocks. 

INDENTIFYING MARKS: 8"; Vey pale and plain in winter plumage (worn for most of year), with straight, stout black bill, blackish legs. Black smudge at shoulder may be obvious or hidden. In breeding plumage (worn briefly in late spring to late summer), rich reddish brown on head and foreparts.

VOICE: Hard kwip, often repeated.
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