Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Rare Sandpiper Visits Miscou

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

On Tuesday, August 29, we made a long, rather difficult trek north of Wilson's Point on Miscou Island to look for shorebirds.  We have been visiting this place every late summer for a number of years now.  It is a good birding spot.  Mal Baie Sud has a large pond which is flushed daily by tides.  It is surrounded by marsh and is separated from the open ocean by a large sand dune.  The ocean has broken through the dune, hence the daily flooding of the bay.  There had been a report of a Buff-breasted Sandpiper from the area so we were looking especially for it.

The area is difficult to check because of the mile-walk in to the area along the beach followed by a bit shorter walk along the bay.  When you get back to your car, you have walked about 3 to 4 miles.  To make it even more difficult, the reported bird was seen across the cut made in the sand dune by the ocean, requiring you to cross a deep stream flowing out of the pond.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

There were lots of shorebirds in the area.  We saw many Semipalmated Sandpipers, Semipalmated Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers,  Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers, White-rumped Sandpipers, a Baird's Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, and Ruddy Turnstones.  As we reached the uppermost section of the sand dune I spotted the special bird.  There it was feeding heavily on some black-coloured invertebrates.  The bird was moving quickly along a row of vegetation very intent on feeding.  With camera on tripod I was clicking digital images quickly, knowing the window of opportunity was probably short.  We did not approach closely and let the bird continue its feeding.  Fortunately I had a superzoom camera.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

First impression was a rather large sandpiper (21 cm/ 8.3 in) and its buff colour was not as dark as other Buff-breasteds I have seen.  The large dark eye stands out in contrast to the buffy head.   It has long yellow legs so appears to stand tall.  It does stand straight up at times.  Its beak is long and the pattern on its back is prominent.  It is a very beautiful sandpiper!  Its shape makes you think it is related to the Upland Sandpiper.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is a rare fall migrant to this area.  It nests in the Canadian Arctic and most birds fly south on the central flyway down the central part of North America to southern South America where it winters in Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina.  What a huge distance to fly!  A few bend their route to come over the Maritimes where they have been seen in the Acadian Peninsula and on Grand Manan.  This species needs abundant feeding areas here to refuel for its long journey to South America.  It prefers to feed on the drier parts of the marshy shores.  This is exactly where we found it, feeding about 20 metres from the wet mud and water.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

This is the only species of North American shorebird that uses the lek system to attract mates.  Males join together and perform bold wing displays in order to attract females.  This species was very abundant in the 1800s and early 1900s.  By the 1920s market hunting had decimated their population, nearly driving them to extinction.  The species numbers are still trying to recover!  It is our responsibility to see that they have safe, clean, abundant feeding areas while passing through our region.