Fun Shorebirds at Stinson Beach

After spending time with the birds on the deck, I enjoyed a walk on the beach in search of shorebirds. Stinson Beach isn't exactly warm in February.  There is generally a cold wind blowing off the ocean that makes you appreciate your jacket.

Despite the chill, I took most of these photos lying down in the sand and feeling giddy about it.  How could I not?  This isn't something I get to do everyday!  A marbled Godwit, above and below.  Don't you just love that pink bill?

The Marbled Godwit breeds in northern prairies in the US and Canada and winters along the coast of California and western Mexico.  It feeds on crabs, bristle worms and small bivalves that it extracts from the ocean water and sand with that long probing bill.

A Whimbrel, above and below, a large shorebird in the curlew family, and another inhabitant of shores, mudflats, marshes, prairies and tundra.

Amazingly, Whimbrels visit the coastal shores of North America in the winter and breed in artic and subartic areas.  Some travel as far as 2500 miles without stopping.

Whimbrels forage the beach in search of marine invertebrates, including crabs, other crustaceans, marine worms and mollusks.  Sometimes they grab them as they tumble in the tide, other times, they probe in the sand with their uniquely curved bill.

A bird with spectacular markings.

The waves look gigantic from this perspective, don't they?

Above and below, a Willet also walks the tide foraging.  

A special way to enjoy the beach!

Visit all my posts on Stinson Beach, California

Cornell All About Birds:
Willet
Whimbrel
Marbled Godwit

Stinson Beach, California--Snowy Plover

An invitation from a friend, a plane ticket, an hour's drive north of San Francisco...

and the next thing I know, I'm hiking among giant redwoods, exploring intriguing beaches, discovering new bird species and enjoying spectacular views of the California coast.  Come with me to Stinson Beach!

On my first morning on the beach, I was presented with a life bird--the Snowy Plover--a captivating little shorebird that forages on terrestrial and aquatic invertebrates on barren beaches along the coast and inland waterways.

Even when I knew these plovers were in the vicinity, it was very hard to spot them unless they were moving. Though they are easy to find in the above image, walking on the beach is a different matter.  Their plumage coloration and broken patterns lends itself to blending right into the sand and shadows as you walk along the beach.  

The juvenile, above and below, left tiny footprints in the moist sand as he headed for a depression caused by an earlier human footprint.  Once he settled in, he became still and "invisible" once again.

The bird below, appears to be a female because of her light color, but it is winter (Feb 17th), even in California, and winter plumage in the plover sexes can sometimes be indistinguishable.  

Notice the leg bands worn by the birds in many of the images.  With the exception of the juvenile above, this group of plovers wore multiple colored bands, some wearing red, green, yellow or blue bands arranged in different combinations on both legs.  The placement and color of the bands helps researchers distinguish individuals and aids in monitoring nesting populations and nesting success.   (The bird above has bands of green over red, while the bird below wears red above.)

Snowy Plovers are either endangered or threatened in areas where they occur largely because of degradation of habitat and encroachment by expanding development. Humans and dogs frequently disturb nesting and foraging birds on beaches that are heavily used for recreation.

In fact, the online edition of the Birds of North American on the Snowy Plover published in 2009, describes studies showing that Snowy Plovers are 16 times more likely to be disturbed on a public beach than a protected beach.

In one study, on average, each plover was disturbed every 27 minutes on weekends and every 45 minutes on week days. Feeding rates decreased with human activity and disturbance was noted when humans were within 43 yards of the bird. The birds are disturbed by the presence of dogs at an even greater distance.

In the next several images, plovers in the small group stretch their wings and legs...

preen...

and probe the sand at the base of a low growing plant in search of invertebrates.

These behaviors give the impression that disturbance is minimal, which is what I hope for. I am using a 400 mm lens while lying stationery on the beach and the images I have posted here are cropped, making the subjects appear closer than they were in the moment. As you look at some of the images, however, you will notice that in several of them, the bird is looking at the camera. When a wildlife subject is looking at you, you have disturbed it.     

I thanked them for our short visit, wished them many seasons of successful nesting, and said goodbye to some of the sweetest little shorebirds ever!  

Next:  The rest of my first day at Stinson Beach--the Dipsea Trail.

Links and resources:

Cornell on the Snowy Plover

For more about the camouflage qualilties of bird plumage visit The Hermit Thrush and Willow Ptarmigans in Denali
Stinson Beach, CA

Birds of North America

Long-billed Curlew at El Matador Beach--Malibu, CA

Having lived in the "south" most of my life (south meaning the eastern south) and being accustomed to a more leisurely pace, a visit to Los Angeles, California, can feel like a visit to a foreign country.  Driving the LA freeways, navigating city streets even, for me rivals learning a foreign language at a high-speed pace with only a few seconds to grasp it.   
But also rivaling any wonder I've experienced in nature is the absolute grandeur of the western coastline along the Pacific Coast Highway.  The ruggedness of the rock cliff formations, the blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean, the impressive panoramic views of the undulating California coastline on one side, and stark canyon walls on the other, present a world that envelops me in wonder every time I see it.  Add to this, the discovery of a life bird foraging among the rock formations and you have what makes for a perfect moment in nature.   (Click on the above image to enlarge and notice the people standing in the shadow of the large boulder.  This gives you a relative idea of the height of my position while taking the photograph just before my climb down.)

Located on the west end of Malibu, El Matador is one of three beaches located in the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach, an area of cove or cliff-foot strands, also known as "pocket beaches" because of their isolated accessibility.

That isolation is largely due to the steep decent required to gain beach access, made possible only by a series of paths and stairways that enable you to weave your way down the cliff wall to the shore.      

And every landing is worthy of pause, a chance to take in a whole new perspective on a breath-taking view. 

Below, you see a cluster of rock formations along the shore.  It was at this level that I noticed the movement of shorebirds among the rocks, one of them standing out as larger and more colorful.

After progressing a couple of levels closer, I knew I had found a treasure, an unfamiliar bird with intriguing features.

Breeding in grasslands and wet meadows in the central United States and south-central Canada, the Long-billed Curlew, a life bird for me, winters along the coast of California and south to Mexico.  It uses that long decurved bill to probe deep into mud and sand, following the burrows of fiddler crabs, shrimp, crayfish and other crustaceans, and bringing them up to the surface to consume.   On it's grassland breeding grounds, it uses this same technique to forage earthworm burrows.

Considered "highly imperiled" by the U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan because of declines and threats to both breeding and wintering grounds, while not foraging this bird walks with an erect, slightly head back posture giving it a proud appearance as it travels the mud flats.

At a height of 23" and a wing span of 35" it also made a graceful departure.  Slow, deliberate flaps from long cinnamon wings lifted it over the boulder-strewn, frothy tidal waters with ease.    

One of those unexpected treasured moments with nature.

Related Links and Resources:

Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach and El Matador State Beach
Cornell on the Long-billed Curlew

Visit blog carnival, I and the Bird  #138, at Wanderin' Weeta's where you'll find this post and others that show the many ways people enjoy birds in nature.

Linked to Bird Photography Weekly # 115 to promote the conservation of our world's birds.