On to Bottle Beach

Even though I reached Bottle Beach two hours before high tide, I realized I should have been there at least an hour before when I was greeted by this Western Sandpiper

up on the sand. It turned out to be an extremely high tide — a reminder just how critical tides are in seeing birds.

Although there were lots of Western Sandpipers, there seemed to be an unusually high percentage of Black-Bellied Plovers

and I was able to get closer to them than usual.

I particularly liked this shot showing Black-Bellied Plovers in winter plumage, in the back, full-breeding colors, on the left, and in an intermittent stage.

I would love to have had more of a chance to get shots of the brilliantly colored Dowitchers,

but I did like this shot of them resting on this little “island.”