Chilmark Purples

by Lanny McDowell on December 25, 2008

A beautiful Christmas day prompted some light early birding up-island on the Vineyard.  The Waskosim’s Rock Preserve gave up a very small Field Sparrow in the open woods.  Later on, acting on a tip about a white-winged gull among the shoreline rocks at Squibnocket Beach (see Vineyard map, but the #21 marker is only approximate), I found the tide way out and the sun warm enough to travel light.  No special gulls in sight, but a single Tree Swallow and a winter-resident flock of about forty-five Purple Sandpipers.  These guys are easily one of my favorite avian photo subjects.  I just can’t get enough of them, especially in the kind of light we were lucky enough to have this afternoon.  A Christmas treat.  Have a look.

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Birds are cool!   Lanny          Sign up for a CBC near you!        New avian art images in print at Gallery & Store, sale priced for Christmas until New Year’s Day.

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1

Tom 12.25.08 at 8:31 pm

Lanny,
Nice to see the pictures of the Purple Sandpipers. I was out today a little but only to a pond in Sudbury and not much exciting, a few Mallards, a bunch of Hybrids, some Ring-billed Gulls, a pair of Gadwalls.

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