Dateline: 2 July 2022
Exciting news! BirdingPI.com has confirmed at least one nesting pair of Spotted Sandpiper in the northern dunes area of Presque Isle State Park (e.g., generally between Presque Isle Light House and Budny Beach), including sightings of two lovely, very active chicks.
These shots are less than ideally sharp; picked a bad day for testing new camera/lens configurations.
Complicated by the heavy cover of dune grass (see above).
Also difficult to get steady results when chasing sandpipers through the dunes.
Resident adult populations have been noticed in this area and at Gull Point. This is the first BirdingPI.com confirmation of successful breeding activity in either area.
Per the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s popular http://www.allaboutbirds.org website, “[Spotted Sandpiper] have intriguing social lives in which females take the lead and males raise the young.” Hence the lead photo: probably the male.
Following shots of Spotted Sandpiper adults from a different day, along/near the beach:
[Editor’s note: BirdingPI.com’s ‘prime directive’ is to minimize disruption or interference with bird behavior and habitat: “Take the shot and move on.” (With apologies to skittish herons and Wood Ducks…) “[C]hasing sandpipers through the dunes” appears intended as a ‘funny,’ but regardless, does not accurately reflect actual circumstances. Namely, soon after these sandpiper chicks were spotted during a routine survey, BirdingPI.com personnel left the area after quick shots for the record.]