Long Distance Traveler

The breeding habitat of American Golden Plover is Arctic tundra from northern Canada and Alaska. They nest on the ground in a dry open area. They are migratory and winter in southern South America. They follow an elliptical migration path; northbound birds pass through Central America about January–April and stage in great numbers in places like Illinois before their final push north. In fall, they take a more easterly route, flying mostly over the western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea to the wintering grounds in Patagonia. (Wikipedia)

American golden-plover/ Boundary Bay

The bird has one of the longest known migratory routes of over 25,000 miles. Of this, 2,400 miles is over open ocean where it cannot stop to feed or drink. It does this from body fat stores that it stocks up on prior to the flight. It is a regular vagrant to western Europe.

Three Plovers

The generosity of fellow birder Jim Martin sharing his find led to my first close-up view of an American golden-plover (Pluvialis dominica)

Golden Plovers

Moments before I had just finished photographing a small flock of Black-bellied plovers when I saw Jim a few hundred feet away. I was careful not to disturb his time with the birds when he beckoned me over to share the experience..how cool is that!

Golden Plover stretching; Note the golden plumage absent in the Black-bellied Plover below.

There were two birds resting and feeding along the tideline. The American golden-plover is not that common and among the thousands of Black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola) spread out on Boundary Bay they can easily be overlooked. This is where the experience of knowledgeable birders like Jim and Mike Tabak can point out the finer details between the species to those of us are 'shore bird challenged' During a four hour photo session I also photographed a third plover, the Semipalmated plover (Charasdrius semipalmatus)
Another great day out which ended with a glorious Fall sunset and a few more shorebirds, including a "lifer" which i'll post in a second blog.

Black-bellied plover (left and above)

Semipalmated Plover