Yesterday was one of those days where, if you want to get out and take a walk, you do it between raindrops. Well, the rain had stopped and the sky didn’t look too dark so I thought I’d walk over to Boat Meadow Beach. Was I in for a big surprise! (Click on blog link for other photos.)
As I walked out the door, I turned around to get my camera and a plastic bag in case it started raining. I was so glad that I grabbed my camera as I saw 4 Whimbrels feeding by the water’s edge. They were just beautiful.
I’ve only see them once before here on Cape Cod at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary a few years ago, so this was a big treat! It is rare to see them on the Cape, especially four of them together.
They are easily identified by their black and white-striped crown and long “decurved” bill. Have you ever seen a Whimbrel? It certainly made my day!
#birding #eastham #boatmeadowbeach
From
Shore Birds by Juliane McAdam
“…“Let’s start here,” she says. “What would you call
that bird?” I answer that I’ve always called it a
sandpiper. “That’s like saying someone in the U.S. is
named Smith,” she replies. “It’s a long-billed curlew.”
And we’re off. Excitedly, I write down names in my
notebook: Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling…
…It’s only a start, but from now on everyone named Smith
will have at least a first and middle name. ”
https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=3063