Sandpipers & Peeps

It all started with just one “peep”.

I was walking and monitoring the shore of South Beach, following a tiny shadow of a bird playing zig-zag tag with lapping waves.

As a kid I remember seeing many of these small shore birds darting about the surf around Island.

Not anymore.

So, I went back to school (in thought) and gave myself a homework assignment.

I know I have mentioned I don’t consider myself a “birder” but I can’t escape the fact that there are quite a few shore bird species on and along Fishers Island.

The Sandpiper for instance-there are 21 different types.

Narrow the area down to Long Island Sound, we might see 8 such types of these “waders” and “surfbirds”

My homework assignment got even tougher when I read that out of the “Sandpiper 8”there are “5 Peeps”-slang for the smallest North American Sandpipers……that I might observe on South Beach.

Holding steady my binoculars, squinting tightly without wobbling, then trying to focus the camera, I quickly snapped a few photos.

This tiny lone bird about the size of a sparrow became the subject of a few emails  with the Henry Ferguson Museum. I also compared my photos with different species noted on various websites.

No wonder birders believe that these 5 Peeps create more identification debates than the rest of the shore birds put together. Back and forth comparing my observations detailing plumage, bills, leg color……

Finally, I called it:

The Least Sandpiper.

The clues I thought were its yellowish legs that only this type Sandpiper has, and if I look ever so closely-the mere rounded slant at the end of its bill.

I haven’t spotted or heard another Peep since.

I did though give myself an A for effort.