To describe my lifelong fascination with flight and with creatures that fly I like to echo the words of John James Audubon who in 1839 wrote of himself as "...one who never can cease to admire and to study with zeal and the most heartfelt reverence, the wonderful productions of an Almighty Creator."
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Sandpipers on the move
This afternoon along the beaches and bays of Tillamook County I watched Western Sandpipers and Dunlin frantically refueling just ahead of the incoming tide, and also having to take flight occasionally to escape from a Peregrine Falcon that came slashing through. The Least Sandpiper in the lower photo was feeding in a more protected wet spot in a cow pasture. They all will probably be burning that fuel tonight or tomorrow when they take off on the next leg of their migration north to the Arctic. Only a couple of thousand miles to go, and then they'll be able to work around the clock in 24-hour daylight nesting and raising their chicks. I guess it's not surprising that their average life expectancy is only about 7 or 8 years.
This afternoon along the beaches and bays of Tillamook County I watched Western Sandpipers and Dunlin frantically refueling just ahead of the incoming tide, and also having to take flight occasionally to escape from a Peregrine Falcon that came slashing through. The Least Sandpiper in the lower photo was feeding in a more protected wet spot in a cow pasture. They all will probably be burning that fuel tonight or tomorrow when they take off on the next leg of their migration north to the Arctic. Only a couple of thousand miles to go, and then they'll be able to work around the clock in 24-hour daylight nesting and raising their chicks. I guess it's not surprising that their average life expectancy is only about 7 or 8 years.
1 Comments:
:mouth drops: That's incredible! Can't believe they are right here in Oregon.
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