I have to admit that I really didn't get into photographing sandpipers -- shorebirds in general until I saw several very elegant looking American Avocets at Blue Lake in Washington, while I was on my way to a favorite fishing hole at Dry Falls. Here's the photo I took:
American Avocet
photo taken at Blue Lake, Washington
I was mesmerized for 20 minutes watching this beautiful bird walk around in the shallow water searching for food. Once I added the Avocet, then saw and photographed Black Necked Stilts (tomorrow) I seemed to be hooked on a great many more of nature's creatures.
American Avocet
photo taken a Lake Cochise, Arizona
As they fly off from one area to another they make a loud "weeping" sound. I always feel I've disturbed them and so they are crying. But this is part of their nature and do so even without people around (so I am told).
American Avocet
photo taken at Lake Cochise, Arizona
The American Avocet breeds in marshes, beaches, prairie ponds, and shallow lakes in the mid-west and on the Pacific Coast of North America, nesting on open ground, often in small groups, and sometimes with other waders. A pair will rear one brood per season, with both male and female providing parental care for the young. The Avocet is migratory, and mostly winters on the southernmost part of the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. The American Avocet forages in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill from side to side in water as it looks for insects and small amphibians. As a migratory bird , it is protected under the Migratory Bird Act of 1918.
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