Tag Archives: Sanderling

Hitting a few beaches along the Milwaukee lakefront produced one Sanderling at South Shore Park. The bird was looking beautiful going into its breeding plumage. The bird fed up and down the beach shoreline and sometimes being flushed by walkers which use this beach. It was a cold day out with good winds coming off the lake at 40 degree temps, I did not see the sun till later in the day. Images were taken on May 10, 2021.

The Sanderling flying out over the water and then back to the beach as walkers came by…

Waiting for something to eat…

Getting something…

Something small in the bill to eat…

Looking for something to eat here…

Something in the bill…they eat sand crabs, amphipods, isopods, insects, marine worms, small mollusks…

Moving up onto the shore after a wave came in and goes back out…

More food in the bill…they like to watch for food in the sand after a wave comes in…

And more food…

While birding Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee I came upon a lone Sanderling at the beach. A late one for sure migrating south, here for a stop. I only hung around for a minute and a couple quick photos, I never saw it on shore, it only stood in the water. It stood in the wave action at the shoreline and appeared to find things to eat. Mild temps, but the wind made it chilly, and sun on and off. Images were taken on November 19, 2020.

Sanderling posing pretty…

In the wave…

Getting something to eat…

Another wave…

A nice pose…

I started out my birding morning at McKinley Beach walking north along the lake. I heard of a Common Redpoll being seen in that area. No luck with that but on my way back to the beach area, using my bins, I noticed  some shorebirds on the south end of the beach. A quick walk over provided nice looks at 3 Dunlins and 2 Sanderlings. They seemed hungry and fed while I was present other than a little bathing by one Sanderling. It was a chilly morning with good winds from the north with some sun. Other places along the lakefront I stopped at were quiet. Images were taken on October 31, 2020.

One of the Dunlins in nonbreeding plumage…

Dunlin with food in the bill…

3 Dunlins…

Sanderling with the waves coming in…

Sanderling bathing…

Sanderling with food in the bill…

Sanderling closeup…

Sanderling looking pretty…

Sanderling preening…

Sanderling preening…

Sanderling fluffing up…

Sanderling, some wing stretching…

Sanderling

Dunlin posing pretty…

One of my birding stops early this morning was McKinley Beach. Present there were 7 Sanderlings and 1 Semipalmated Plover. They were feeding on some nice algae mats there. It was a gloomy morning out and just after seeing these birds it started raining. Nothing else special to note at the other couple of places I stopped before McKinley Beach. Images were taken on September 8, 2020.

Sanderling with something to eat…

Sanderling looking pretty…

Semipalmated Plover posing…

Sanderling with something to eat…

Sanderling in search of food…

Sanderling looking for things to eat…

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Sanderling in the wave with food in the bill…

Sanderling in search of…

After photographing the Red Knot at Lakeshore State Park I headed over to McKinley Beach. 3 Sanderlings were present and they were feeding along the beach area at waters edge finding things to eat. It was a beautiful day and exciting to see the first Sanderlings of the fall migration. Images were taken on September 3, 2019.

Sanderling looking for things to eat…

Something in the bill to eat…

Another catch…

Food in the bill…

Walking around and looking for things to eat…

Something in the bill to eat…

Posing…

Close up…

Walking and looking for things to eat, sand on the bill from the last probe…

Grabbing something to eat here…

Food in the bill…

The Sanderling, what a beautiful shorebird!

One of my first birding stops in the morning was Bradford Beach in Milwaukee. You never know what will be there. 8 Sanderlings were present across the whole shore of the beach. Walkers on the beach not even knowingly flush the feeding birds around which is very typical. The Sanderlings usually when flushed just fly out over the water a few 100 feet and return to a different area on the beach for more feeding. While running up and down the beach they are feeding on small crustaceans, amphipods, etc. Sanderlings like following waves in and out along the beach as that is where they find their fresh food. It was an overcast morning, low winds, mild temps. Images were taken on September 20, 2018.

The Sanderling feeding with something in the bill…

Sanderling

Binomial name: Calidris alba

Category: Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies

Size: 8” long, 17” wing span

Weight: 2.1 Oz.

Note: An arctic breeder, a long distance migrator, winters in South America, South Europe, Africa, and Australia

Finding something small to eat…

Something in the bill…

Something in the bill…

Two of the Sanderlings moving along the beach together…

The Sanderling follows the wave in, the quickly runs to see what has been brought in…

Wave recedes back out, the Sanderling has something in his bill but continually looks for more food…

A pair…

The Sanderlings run in all directions with waves coming and going looking for things to eat…

The big bite!

Moving along in search of something to eat…

The Sanderling probes into the sand, I think the bill filters out the sand and what remains is the food…

Something in the bill…

Probing…

Running along the receding wave…

Looking around after some wave action for things to eat…

Looking…

Getting something small…

Something in the bill…

On the run…

A stop at McKinley Beach this morning in Milwaukee gave brief views of 8 Sanderlings feeding pretty much non-stop. Also present were the commonly seen Ring-billed Gulls at this location. After only a couple minutes a dog approached the area and all the birds flushed with the Sanderlings heading south. Other birds to note along the local lakefront were many Double-crested Cormorants everywhere, and ~ a dozen Northern Shovelers, and a Ruddy Duck being at Lakeshore State Park. It was a overcast morning with mild temps around 58 degrees with some steady winds and waves off the lake. Images were taken on October 6, 2017.

Sanderling with a bite to eat…

Sanderlings feeding along the beach bank…

Sanderlings feeding along the beach with Ring-billed Gulls

Moving along the beach with waves rolling in…

Along the beach they go…

Trying to avoid the waves…

Shaking it off!

Size comparison image with a Ring-billed Gull and a Sanderling…

Some preening

More preening

Scratching…

Coming towards me…

In the wave…

Out of the wave action…

Just waiting for the sight of something to eat…

A brief stop at the McKinley Beach this morning provided nice views of 2 Sanderlings and 2 Semipalmated Sandpipers. One of the Sanderlings was transitioning into nonbreeding plumage and still had some of its breeding plumage, an interesting look. The birds fed on the algae mat at the beach. Other than that the lakefront was pretty slow at Bradford Beach, Lakeshore State Park and the harbor. Images were taken on September 10, 2017.

Sanderling going into nonbreeding plumage from breeding plumage with a worm…

Sanderling in nonbreeding plumage…

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Sanderling going into nonbreeding plumage

Sanderling going into nonbreeding plumage

Sanderling in nonbreeding plumage

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Sanderling nonbreeding plumage

Semipalmated Sandpiper

A stop at McKinley Beach in Milwaukee Wisconsin provided some nice views of Sanderlings. They fed along the algae mat in the beach area. A stunning shorebird species close up that moved quickly along the beach area. Images were taken on September 3, 2017.

Sanderling chasing off another Sanderling in the area

What’s up…

Looking for something to eat…

On the move along the mat

Got something…

On the move with a little wind blowing

A little wave action here…

In search of something to eat…

Here is a bite…

Posing…

On Sunday as the Sanderlings were busy feeding on Bradford Beach, I observed a skirmish take place near me. I have not witnessed one of this length before and so full of action, usually it is just a little wing action or poking.  When I looked at the images as what all took place in a matter of seconds it was incredible. Amazing that one Sanderling pushes another Sanderling down with its bill to the algae mat. I apologize for any blurry or poor quality images, but I did not want to leave out any of the of action shots. 30 images are in order from start to finish from the event as it happened. Images were taken on September 14, 2014.

I made a stop at Bradford Beach around noon after a nice variety of shorebirds were reported in the area earlier in the day.  At Bradford Beach all that was present were Sanderlings, about 20 of them scattered across the entire length of the beach. They were all feeding continually while I was there. They are always fun to watch running up and down the shoreline following the waves coming in and out. The waves were very high, enough for folks to be out board surfing. A juveniles except for 1 female breeding adult, those images are on the bottom here. Images were taken on September 10, 2014.

Sanderling

Binomial name: Calidris alba

Category: Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies

Size: 8” long, 17” wing span

Weight: 2.1 Oz.

Habitat: One of the most common shorebirds in the world, this shorebird is considered one of the “peeps”. Its breeding habitat is the High Arctic tundra in the northern Canadian islands and peninsulas. They winter on the sandy beaches of most of the world.

Diet: Aquatic invertebrates, worms, insects, crab eggs, fish, jellyfish, crustaceans, spiders, moths, flies, mosquitoes and sometimes material from plants.

Nesting: Nests for this species are located out in the open on the dry northern tundra, just a scrape lined with grass, leaves or lichen. Usually close to water and at an elevated site. Typically 4 eggs are laid. The eggs are incubated by both parents and cared for during a period of 24-31 days. Soon after the hatch of the young, they find food on their own.

Cool fact: Sanderlings can be seen racing up and down on the shores of the beaches following waves in and out in search for food.

Sanderling, juv. what they eat.

Sanderling, female breeding adult

Sanderling, female breeding adult