My mom was a big time beachcomber with an incredibly impressive shell collection from around the globe. I spent a whole lot of my time as a kid on the beach amongst the thousands and thousands of shorebirds vying for the same sand where I as building castles. There was one group I constantly saw running back and forth with the waves. The pattern they made as they ran as a flock fascinated me. We’d see them in spring and winter and they looked totally different though they had the same behavior. I asked my dad who was a reluctant beachcomber what they were doing there on the beach, he looked at the Sanderlings and then looked back at me and said, “They chase the water back into the sea.” There isn’t a time when I’m lying on the sand photographing these incredible travelers I don’t think of that. These days though, there are a whole lot fewer Sanderlings and other shorebirds and there is a whole lot more water. It might just be in the near future we’ll truly need their “special” skill at chasing the sea back!