{"id":7233,"date":"2009-06-23T19:54:19","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T03:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moosepeterson.com\/blog\/?p=7233"},"modified":"2009-06-23T19:54:19","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T03:54:19","slug":"winter-shorebird-basics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/winter-shorebird-basics\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Shorebird Basics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from the BT \t\tJournal<\/a>, Vol. 7, Issue 4, August 2002<\/p>\n

\"ShorebirdsThe sun hints of its arrival \t\t\tin the east with a soft glow of color. The air is quiet and damp with \t\t\tthe night air still clinging to the surrounding landscape. From the \t\t\tbrightening sky, the pond in the distance becomes apparent as we stroll \t\t\tin that direction. Dark shapes can be seen in the pond like mere puffs \t\t\ton a stick, standing in mass on one edge of the pond. The light slowly \t\t\tbrings definition to the shapes and we can see it’s a small flock of \t\t\tLeast Sandpipers. They’ve spent the night in the water, a natural intruder \t\t\talarm sounding should a predator try to make an approach during the \t\t\tnight. And now the light is just right for photographing this sleepy \t\t\tlittle flock. They begin to stir as a wave of wing-stretches spread \t\t\tamongst the flock. It’s the beginning of a perfect morning of photographing \t\t\twinter shorebirds.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, many wildlife photographers do not haunt shorebird \t\t\tterritory in the winter. Maybe that’s because they don’t like the winter \t\t\tplumage of winter shorebirds. Perhaps it’s because many species are \t\t\tso small, getting a “big” image size is beyond their optical means. \t\t\tIt could even be that photographers are simply not aware of what great \t\t\tsubjects they make. I’ve been into winter shorebirds long before I \t\t\twas even a photographer. I’m so into shorebirds that I’ve traveled \t\t\tto many regions in the far north to photograph them on their nesting \t\t\tgrounds. These little puff balls are really addictive! I’m going to \t\t\ttry to entice you to get down into the mud and have some fun with me, \t\t\tphotographing winter shorebirds.<\/p>\n

Winter Shorebird Basics<\/h2>\n

The avian group known as shorebirds is really large. It comprises \t\t\tsandpipers, plovers, stilts, avocets, snipes, oystercatchers, turnstones \t\t\tand phalaropes (phew!). All these groups include the 49 common species \t\t\tof shorebirds found in North America (not included are the rarities \t\t\tthat show up on our shores from time to time). In the winter when we \t\t\tsee shorebirds, we find them in their drab, gray plumage. Breeding \t\t\tin the northern latitudes, these mighty long-distance travelers winter \t\t\tin many locales throughout the US . Just after arriving on our shores, \t\t\tthey molt their spring colors for their grays, blacks and browns we’re \t\t\taccustomed to seeing. While many don’t even recognize them when they \t\t\tare all decked out in their spring wear when they’re heading north, \t\t\tthey’re a familiar friend in winter.<\/p>\n

While not something most photographers think of when photographing \t\t\tshorebirds, their bills are incredibly diverse. Some are long, some \t\t\tshort, others broad while others are very thin. In addition to all \t\t\tthe bill variations are varied leg lengths. Added to this is the fact \t\t\tthat some shorebirds barely tip the scale at a couple of ounces while \t\t\tsome weigh in over a pound. This incredible variety of characteristics \t\t\tpermits shorebirds to successfully forage nearly side by side and not \t\t\tbe in real competition with each other. This includes wet soils just \t\t\tas much as dry soil types.<\/p>\n

Just what do they find to eat when they stick their bills in the \t\t\tslimy mud? Plovers have large eyes and locate their food visually by \t\t\tforaging for insects from the surface. Sandpipers have poorer eyesight \t\t\tgenerally finding food by touch, probing the mud with their bills. \t\t\tShorebird diets consist of polychaete and oligochaete worms (sounds \t\t\tappetizing to me), insect larva, and aquatic insects such as water \t\t\tboatmen. Other food items include amphipods, copepods, crustaceans, \t\t\tand mollusks. What they forage for depends upon their bill and leg \t\t\tlength.<\/p>\n

How do all of these shorebird varieties find their way to and from \t\t\tour shores? That’s a really cool process I think. One summer when I \t\t\twas shooting in Churchill , Canada with my good friend Artie, we saw \t\t\tthis great mystery unfold before our eyes. We were there to see the \t\t\tHudsonian Godwits raise their young and watch those young take off \t\t\ton their migration prior to the adults leaving. What was cool was we \t\t\tknew the young would actually meet up with their parents again on the \t\t\teast coast in a month or so. How do “chicks” that are only a few months \t\t\told, know when, how and where to fly with no one showing them? It is \t\t\ttruly amazing!<\/p>\n

The routes shorebirds use to migrate are pretty well known. There \t\t\tare four major flyways, so no matter where you live in the US , you \t\t\tshould be able to photograph winter shorebirds. (World wide, I couldn’t \t\t\tfind an answer as to how many flyways exist, but there’s plenty for \t\t\teveryone to photograph!) Shorebirds are believed to have an internal \t\t\tcompass (powered by what is a good guess) that gets them from point \t\t\tA to point B. This compass might be influenced by the sun, moon, position \t\t\tof the stars, polarized light, magnetism, wind, photoperiod, olfactory \t\t\tcues or any combination there of. However they amazingly do it, the \t\t\tvast majority ending up at inland wetlands to spend the winter.<\/p>\n

It’s hard for me to understand why I don’t see more photographers \t\t\tout on the mud flats with me when there are literally millions of subjects \t\t\tjust waiting to be photographed. The shorebird numbers are just staggering, \t\t\tespecially when you consider we can’t exactly count each and every \t\t\tone of them. When you look at the estimates though, it can take your \t\t\tbreath away. Recent USFWS censuses of several staging areas in recent \t\t\tyears showed the following numbers for these species: At Delaware Bay- \t\t\t600,000 shorebirds consisting mostly of Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, \t\t\tand Semipalmated Sandpipers; San Francisco Bay, California- 930,000 \t\t\tshorebirds of multiple species; Great Salt Lake, Utah- 600,000 Wilson’s \t\t\tPhalaropes and 300,000 Red-necked Phalaropes; Bay of Fundy, Canada- \t\t\t1,000,000 shorebirds with Semipalmated Sandpipers numbering in the \t\t\t100,000’s. At sites in South America 500,000 Wilson’s Phalaropes and \t\t\t20,000 Golden Plovers were counted in Mar Chiquita Cordoba, Argentina, \t\t\t1,000,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers were recorded at Bigi Pan, Suriname, \t\t\t2,000,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers and 50,000 Short-billed Dowitchers \t\t\tat Wia Wia, Suriname, and 750,000 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and 50,000 \t\t\tLesser Yellowlegs at Coppename Rivermouth, Suriname. Wow!<\/p>\n

Why do shorebirds tend to mass in such numbers? Safety in numbers \t\t\tis surely a big reason for the large flocks. If you’ve ever watched \t\t\ta Peregrine Falcon on a hunting foray, you’ve seen how the masses protect \t\t\tthose in the middle of the flock when they take to the air while tail \t\t\tend Charlie usually is the one that gets picked off. With the ever \t\t\tdecreasing loss of habitat, one can’t help but believe that that too \t\t\tis creating greater and greater concentrations. When you add this all \t\t\tup though, there is no getting away from the fact that shorebirds are \t\t\tjust waiting for us to take their photograph!<\/p>\n

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Tools for Photographing Winter Shorebirds<\/h2>\n

Long lenses, old clothes and knee boots are a really great place \t\t\tto start! Photographing shorebirds does require long lenses, the longer \t\t\tthe better. Photographing shorebirds is not a poor man sport I’m sorry \t\t\tto say. When I say long lens, I’m talking about a 600mm with either \t\t\ta 1.4x or 2x. I know my good friend Artie often stacks a 1.4 & 2x \t\t\ton his 600mm (a definite Canon advantage) to get a whopping 1680mm \t\t\t(good thing he has IS, probably the one time when it really makes a \t\t\tbig difference!) Attach this rig onto a 1D and you would have a 2180mm \t\t\tlens! Zow!!! With Nikon we can combine a 600mm and 2xs for 1200mm and \t\t\ton a D1 family camera end up with 1800mm. You don’t need this much \t\t\thorsepower, but it sure does make life easier.<\/p>\n

The shortest lens IMHO you can get away with is 600mm. This could \t\t\tbe a 400f5.6 with a 1.4x, 100-400IS on a 1D or a straight 600mm. A \t\t\tvery popular combo is a 500mm and 1.4x because it is light yet powerful. \t\t\tYou can easily see for yourself how much lens you need by simply focusing \t\t\ton someone’s fist. The basic adult fist is the size of your basic peep \t\t\t(small shorebird). You can see just how close you have to get with \t\t\tthe lens you have to get the image size you desire. It’s the combination \t\t\tof focal length and physical distance from the subject that determines \t\t\tyour image size.<\/p>\n

Digital has been a great boon for shorebird photography for many \t\t\treasons. One is the great focal length digital brings to wildlife photography. \t\t\tI’ve talked about this many times in the BTJ. With cameras like the \t\t\tD100 or a used D1 on the market, you can get to 600mm or greater for \t\t\tless than $2k which in many instances is less than the price of a telephoto \t\t\tlens.<\/p>\n

The one thing you cannot scrimp on is the tripod! You’re always working \t\t\ton very unstable ground which is true if you’re standing up or lying \t\t\ton the ground. You need maximum stability from your tripod no matter \t\t\thow you’re set up. The vast majority of the time, you’ll be shooting \t\t\tat slower shutter speeds than normal (because of DoF) and if you cheap \t\t\tout on tripods, you’ll never get a sharp image.<\/p>\n

I can’t emphasize this enough! When you set your tripod up, you must \t\t\tpush the front leg of the tripod down into the muck! Resting your tripod \t\t\ton the top of mud or sand is not stable. The surface tension of these \t\t\tsoils can often hold the distributed weight of your rig but at the \t\t\tsame time, it transmits all vibrations to the tripod. By simply pushing \t\t\tthe front leg of the tripod into the mud or sand, you break this surface \t\t\ttension. This gives you a solid platform in which to operate. (Be sure \t\t\tafter shooting in the muck that you clean your tripod legs before you \t\t\tclose them up. This prevents the muck from getting up into the inner \t\t\tsections of your legs and joints and causing you problems later on.)<\/p>\n

Footwear is really important to shorebird photography. I’ve seen \t\t\tmany a great image missed because it meant venturing out in the mud, \t\t\ta place photographers couldn’t go because of their shoes. Shorebirds \t\t\tare out in the mud and the muck as we’ve seen for safety and food. \t\t\tIf you want to get close, you’ve got to go out to where they are! This \t\t\tmeans getting muddy. The best option is simple knee high boots. Simply \t\t\tdrive to where you’re going to shoot and then put on the boots. When \t\t\tyou’re done shooting change out of the muddy boots before driving home \t\t\tand you’ll have an easy time of dealing with the mud.<\/p>\n

When it comes to clothes, you can wear anything you’d like, but if \t\t\tyou wear something you don’t care about then your clothes won’t hold \t\t\tyou back. Getting down and dirty is a big part of the fun of shooting \t\t\tshorebirds. Just like your shoes, if you wear clothes you don’t want \t\t\tto get dirty, you’re going to miss out on a possible great image.<\/p>\n

A very common question I get in regards to photographing shorebirds \t\t\tis, “do you need a blind?” I’ve never used one for photographing winter \t\t\tshorebirds and in fact, never used one for photographing nesting shorebirds \t\t\teither. There is no doubt that you could use a blind and it would help \t\t\tyou get closer. My only problem with them is the fact you’re often \t\t\tworking with tides. The tides would have to be perfect along with the \t\t\tlight and location of the shorebirds for a blind to be a benefit. But \t\t\tsitting in a blind in mud is not my idea of fun!<\/p>\n

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Photographing Winter Shorebirds<\/h2>\n

The first thing I recommend is you go out and find where it is the \t\t\tshorebirds hang in your area. Grab your binoculars, call the local \t\t\tbirding hotline, go out with a local Audubon group, do whatever it \t\t\ttakes to find those shorebirds! You don’t have to live on the coast \t\t\tto photograph shorebirds, as you can find them nearly everywhere in \t\t\tNorth American in the winter (though some regions might only have one \t\t\tor two species). You’re looking for photographic locales and not just \t\t\tbirding locales as the two are not always conducive. You’re going to \t\t\twant to be picky about the locales you locate for a very specific reason. \t\t\tOnce you’ve found the shorebirds, you need to think through your photographic \t\t\tapproach.<\/p>\n

I personally like to photograph shorebirds first thing in the morning. \t\t\tThis is partially because of the quality of light, but it’s more because \t\t\tI like to find the shorebirds when they’re still sleeping. So when \t\t\tyou’re locating your shorebirds and thinking through how you’re going \t\t\tto get close to them, you might keep in mind shooting in the early \t\t\tam as an option. You’re going to need to scope out a means of walking \t\t\tto your shorebirds without waking them. While this might sound simple \t\t\tenough, when it comes to shorebirds and mud, it can be anything but \t\t\tsimple (ever heard the noise a boot squishing into mud makes?).<\/p>\n

At a couple of my favorite places to photograph shorebirds in California \t\t\tthe path is solid muck. Knee high boots are the only way to go. Two \t\t\tother locales I frequent are all blacktop. But whatever the case may \t\t\tbe, there is one thing we must always keep in mind when approaching \t\t\tshorebirds. Habitat Ethics! Many of the shorebirds that become our \t\t\tsubjects are endangered. The vast majority of the time they are endangered \t\t\tbecause of habitat loss or degradation. The last thing we should do \t\t\tis add to this problem by our activities! All it takes is common sense \t\t\tand you’ll have no problems.<\/p>\n

Once you find your shorebird subjects and you figure out your best \t\t\tapproach, you can figure out your equipment. For example, when I go \t\t\tto shoot at Palo Alto Baylands , CA to the morning pond, I have a 2x \t\t\tconnected to the 600mm. When I go to my favorite pond in Bakersfield \t\t\t, CA , all I need is 600mm. Why is preselecting your optics important? \t\t\tTwo reasons, both technical.<\/p>\n

When shooting at first light, there is very little light so shutter \t\t\tspeeds are critical. This is especially true if you’re cranking down \t\t\tthe DoF. Quite often when shooting a group of shorebirds, I’m at f\/22. \t\t\tAt this aperture and shooting at ISO 200, my shutter speed is down \t\t\tin the 1\/20 range. All of this is important because you need to be \t\t\table to operate in all of these conditions and come back with sharp \t\t\timages!<\/p>\n

This means you need a secure place to set up your tripod. Prescouting \t\t\ta locale can help assure this. It also means you need to use proper \t\t\tlong lens technique. Shooting at 1200mm at 1\/20, if you don’t use proper \t\t\tlong lens technique, you won’t come back with sharp images. A lot of \t\t\tyour photographic success then comes from the homework you do prior \t\t\tto ever firing the shutter! (Obviously at these slow shutter speeds, \t\t\tif the subject is moving, you’re going to have images out of focus \t\t\tno matter what you do. This is the other main reason I go early in \t\t\tthe morning when the shorebirds are still asleep.)<\/p>\n

You’ve done all of your homework and you’re now standing in front \t\t\tof a flock of shorebirds, what next? The first thing I try to capture \t\t\twhile the light is low and the birds are still motionless, are reflections. \t\t\tI go after the reflections first because once the birds start to move \t\t\tabout while waking up, the reflections are usually gone for the rest \t\t\tof the morning (besides shooting at a slow shutter speed with moving \t\t\tsubjects doesn’t work).<\/p>\n

The other reason I go after reflections first is the light. The lower \t\t\tthe light is on the horizon, the more even the exposure between the \t\t\tsubject and its reflection will be. I personally prefer the subject \t\t\tand its reflection be even in exposure rather than the reflection being \t\t\tunderexposed compared to the subject. Using a split graduated neutral \t\t\tdensity filter just isn’t an option. Being a very careful observer \t\t\tof light is. Another big benefit of shooting early in the morning especially \t\t\ton the coast can be fog\/overcast. This very natural diffusion can extend \t\t\tthe great light required for reflections. When photographing shorebirds \t\t\tthat are mostly tan or gray, you can squeeze by with marginal light, \t\t\tbut that’s not the case for any bird with white plumage. American Avocets, \t\t\tBlack-necked Stilts, Greater\/Lesser Yellowlegs can all present real \t\t\treflection problems once the light level starts to increase.<\/p>\n

Successful reflection shots require more than just a mere reflection. \t\t\tThe subject itself is the key. The subject and its pose must be so \t\t\tperfect that you want to see it twice. You need to know a little bit \t\t\tabout your subject. One thing to look at more than anything else is \t\t\tthe feather condition of your subject. While that sounds a little weird, \t\t\tif you’re a good student of bird photographs, you’ll note all the birds’ \t\t\tplumage is in perfect condition. If you have a perfect bird, you’ll \t\t\thave it twice when you capture the reflection correctly, making your \t\t\tphotograph twice as good. If not, then the imperfection is doubled \t\t\tmaking your photograph twice as bad.<\/p>\n

Looking for behavior that you can reflect is a great thing to look \t\t\tfor. The most obvious behavior is sleeping, the bill tucked into the \t\t\twing. But when the shorebirds first start to stir they often preen \t\t\ta little. This can be a great shot. You need to watch the action at \t\t\thand and your shutter speed, but capturing this behavior makes for \t\t\ta really cool image.<\/p>\n

Before the shorebirds start to stir and while you’re working the \t\t\treflections, you want to photograph the masses. Photographing flocks \t\t\tof shorebirds all resting on a pond is spectacular! It requires lots \t\t\tof DoF to make it all work which means your shutter speeds are in the \t\t\tbasement. There are no tricks or magic numbers for success. You need \t\t\tgreat long lens technique, a good eye for patterns and the means to \t\t\tcrank off lots of images. I highly recommend you take a minimum of \t\t\tfour of each shot. This is because generally the 2 nd or 3 rd shot \t\t\tin a series is going to be the sharpest. If you take a number of images \t\t\tto increase your odds, then you’ve gotten the <\/em>image. Take \t\t\tit from painful experience, there is nothing worst than having a great \t\t\tpattern and great reflection only to not have it sharp!<\/p>\n

Patterns are another great morning shooting activity. Short, tall, \t\t\tblack, white, long bill or short bill, sleeping or waking, you name \t\t\tit and you can find it in the shorebird flock. Some patterns are so \t\t\tplainly obvious you can’t help but see them and focus right in on them. \t\t\tOthers are very subtle and don’t show themselves until you exclude \t\t\teverything around them. I personally will pan the entire flock first \t\t\thorizontally and then vertically and with various focal lengths to \t\t\tfind these more hidden pattern treasures. Pan slowly as you view through \t\t\tthe viewfinder, look at the subjects, their reflections and all that’s \t\t\tgoing on. You’ll be surprised at all you’ll find that you didn’t see \t\t\twith your naked eyes!<\/p>\n

Something else to be on the look out for before the sun comes up \t\t\tare the flying ballets. I become so mesmerized by watching flocks of \t\t\tWestern Sandpipers or Sanderlings or Least Sandpipers or Short-billed \t\t\tDowitchers fly in unison in their aerial ballets. They rise and fall, \t\t\tturn left then right, speed up and slow down all in sync with the bird \t\t\tnext to them in a ballet that could never be choreographed to better \t\t\tperfection. This is where the beauty of the Wimberley Head really becomes \t\t\tapparent as you track this swirling mass of beating wings, dancing \t\t\tthrough the air. Tracking, focusing, firing is all a matter of luck \t\t\tin capturing the perfect form in the final image. The key is simply \t\t\tshooting a lot and picking the best flock pattern back at the virtual \t\t\tlight table. But capturing this ballet in the red light of early morning \t\t\tor late evening is a special treat for the winter shorebird photographer!<\/p>\n

As the morning progresses, so do the shorebirds. Depending on the \t\t\tspecies the first activities are determined but in general, most shorebirds \t\t\tstart the day with a bath. While the actual bathing can’t be photographed \t\t\tbecause of the slow shutter speeds we’re shooting at, it’s what happens \t\t\tafterwards that you want to be prepared for – the wing stretch. Shorebirds \t\t\toften wake with a wing stretch and while I’ve captured them after sunrise, \t\t\tI’ve never yet captured the wing stretch reflected. It is an image \t\t\tI strive to capture. The name of the game is being prepared with the \t\t\tknowledge it could happen. This means not having too much lens because \t\t\tyou don’t want to crop out the wing because you’re too tight. It means \t\t\tbeing horizontal or vertical when you should be. Some species stretch \t\t\ttheir wings straight up more than sideways. If you’re horizontal when \t\t\tan avocet (one of my favorite shorebirds) stretches its wings, you’ll \t\t\tmiss it because they like to stretch their wings overhead.<\/p>\n

The little peeps tend to go right to feeding. Photographing feeding \t\t\tactivity early in the morning requires you to make a judgment call. \t\t\tDo you go for freezing the sewing machine feeding activity or do you \t\t\tgo for DoF. There is really no easy way to do both because of light \t\t\tlevel and shutter speed. The feeding of peeps, often likened to a sewing \t\t\tmachine because of the very rapid up and down motion of their probing \t\t\tbill, is really hard to freeze. The key is using peak of action, that \t\t\tis, shooting right when the shorebird is at the top of the stroke or \t\t\tat the bottom and stops just for a heartbeat before proceeding in the \t\t\topposite direction. Motordrives and the willingness to use them is \t\t\tthe key here along with a good eye and fast finger.<\/p>\n

There really is no limit to the activities and the photographic possibilities \t\t\tas the morning moves on. Shorebirds fly in and out a lot, train on \t\t\tthat. Some shorebirds start to get territorial and chase other shorebirds \t\t\tabout, concentrate on that. If you’re tuned into a birding hotline, \t\t\tyou might look for that “rarity” that all the birders are trying to \t\t\tfind. While not a ticker anymore, I do like to know if a rarity is \t\t\tin the area so I can keep an eye open for spotting it. I sometimes \t\t\twill decide to go to one pond over another because a rare shorebird \t\t\thad been spotted there. The shot of the Pectoral Sandpiper is a good \t\t\texample of looking for a rarity once the gorgeous morning light has \t\t\tevaporated.<\/p>\n

A great place to head to photograph winter shorebirds once the light \t\t\tgets hard is the beach. The natural reflective quality of the sand \t\t\thelps fill in shadows so while the light is harsh, the actual light \t\t\trange is minimal. There is a technique I use here more than I do in \t\t\tthe marsh. That’s getting down! I know of some photographers who love \t\t\tto crawl in the mud to get this angle, but that’s just not my idea \t\t\tof fun. But doing it in sand is not only fun but kind of essential \t\t\tI think! While the sand works wonders for filling in shadows at hard \t\t\tlight times, all that white isn’t the nicest of backgrounds. You can \t\t\tsee what I’m talking about in the photo of the Wilson ‘s Plover. The \t\t\tshot on the left was taken with the camera on top of the tripod, shooting \t\t\tdown. For the photo on the right, the tripod foot of the 600mm was \t\t\tliterally resting in the sand (be sure to take a towel with your to \t\t\tclean off the sand before returning your lens to the tripod).<\/p>\n

Getting down is a personal option (I’ll leave that to your imagination). \t\t\tIn the case of the Wilson ‘s Plover, I like both images. The one on \t\t\tthe left is the classic pose while the one on the right is so intimate. \t\t\tThe key here is to realize this is an option and if you’ve never gotten \t\t\tdown, try it at least once and see if you like the results.<\/p>\n

The water’s edge is a great place to head as well. Here you can find \t\t\tall sorts of shorebirds going about the routine of surviving. Surely \t\t\tyou’ve seen the Sanderlings’ seemingly tireless efforts to push the \t\t\tocean back. How about a Marbled Godwit or Willet chasing the waves \t\t\tout to find an unprotected sand dab? Maybe it was a pond shoreline \t\t\twith a Black-bellied Plover foraging amongst the shells. Perhaps it \t\t\tmight be a Black Turnstone on the rocks with the waves crashing behind \t\t\tit. The photographic possibilities are endless!<\/p>\n

Photographing winter shorebirds is an endless pursuit! I could write \t\t\tand write and write about it and spend even more time actually doing \t\t\tit. These little “drab” birds on more than one occasion have saved \t\t\tmy sanity when no other subject could be found to photograph. While \t\t\tthis piece is all about photographing winter shorebirds, don’t think \t\t\tthis is the only time I photograph shorebirds. Traveling north to see \t\t\tthem all dressed in their summer finest is a lifetime thrill for me \t\t\tI keep seeking. But those trips are to far off lands that last only \t\t\ta couple of weeks. Winter shorebirds are subjects you can find right \t\t\twhere you live and can enjoy for months at a time. Use the information \t\t\there as a stepping stone to your own adventures with this very diverse \t\t\tand fun group of birds. The winter shorebirds, may they take the chill \t\t\tout of your winter!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reprinted from the BT Journal, Vol. 7, Issue 4, August 2002 The sun hints of its arrival in the east with a soft glow of color. The air is quiet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-7233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-whats-new"],"episode_featured_image":false,"episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Podcast.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&quality=100&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Podcast\/B08JJQC1GR?ref=a_pd_item-n_c0_bc&pf_rd_p=1da7ab30-c785-4a0e-a160-4a7e7077b353&pf_rd_r=EEDMYHQM3DZ05FPRTHMJ","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2fRA9VaVfSdQMKf1ipxr0tipxr0t","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/moose-podcast\/id1107405746","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/moose-podcast","embedCode":"

Winter Shorebird Basics<\/a><\/blockquote>