Another morning at Eagle Bluffs and another new bird for the season. Today it was an upland sandpiper, foraging alone on a grass-covered levee.
On its way back from Argentina, where it spends the winter, this tall sandpiper will summer and breed on the Northern Plains of Canada and the U.S. or on open grasslands of the Great Lakes and Northeastern States; western Missouri lies within its summer range. Unlike most of its smaller cousins, which inhabit and visit wetlands, shallow ponds, mudflats, Arctic tundra and beaches, the upland sandpiper is attracted to pastures, hayfields and prairie where it stalks a wide variety of insects, spiders and terrestrial invertebrates. During the warmer months, it is often seen on fenceposts or power lines, surveying its territory; nests are placed on the ground, hidden within tall grass.
Usually observed in small flocks during migration, this morning's traveler was almost overlooked until it flushed from the edge of the road as I approached. Fortunately, its size and distinctive form (short bill, small, rounded head, large eyes and long neck and legs) made identification easy.
On its way back from Argentina, where it spends the winter, this tall sandpiper will summer and breed on the Northern Plains of Canada and the U.S. or on open grasslands of the Great Lakes and Northeastern States; western Missouri lies within its summer range. Unlike most of its smaller cousins, which inhabit and visit wetlands, shallow ponds, mudflats, Arctic tundra and beaches, the upland sandpiper is attracted to pastures, hayfields and prairie where it stalks a wide variety of insects, spiders and terrestrial invertebrates. During the warmer months, it is often seen on fenceposts or power lines, surveying its territory; nests are placed on the ground, hidden within tall grass.
Usually observed in small flocks during migration, this morning's traveler was almost overlooked until it flushed from the edge of the road as I approached. Fortunately, its size and distinctive form (short bill, small, rounded head, large eyes and long neck and legs) made identification easy.
