Solitary Sandpiper

A Solitary Sandpiper on its way north was finding a lot to eat at a wet spot in a field near the Willamette River today. According to Dennis Paulson's book, *Shorebirds of North America*, this individual is of the cinnamomea subspecies, which is the one expected here in the west. Its coloration is a bit more olive-brown than the solitaria subspecies. Presumably it will end its northward travel at a breeding area somewhere between Alaska and Hudson Bay.