How I Became a Babysitter for a Sandpiper.
Parenting is hard, regardless of your species.
First Interview.
With summer in full swing, every day presented an opportunity to take advantage of the sun’s golden rays as they lazily drifted toward the horizon.
On this particular evening, there was a ruckus along the river; someone was clearly voicing their discontent. Slowly, I crept toward the source and spied a Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius), the most abundant breeding sandpiper in North America, chattering away. My camera immediately went to work, and I snapped a few backlit photos as it sprinted along the shoreline, occasionally flying to the opposite bank and back again.
Eventually, the bird calmed down and landed on a nearby bush. Nevertheless, it was still on high alert, scanning the horizon for threats and keeping me square in its sights.
Suddenly, there was more movement along the ground — wait — what was that? Two skinny, long…
