They travel in huge flocks.

It’s actually hard to get a good picture of them in their winter plumage because their feathers are so light that they wind up looking over-exposed compared to the ocean background.

On the rocks they eat slowly, probing each crevice for food.

But on the sand, they will run up to a spot, and sink their beak all the way in.

Then they withdraw their beaks from the sand, and run to the next spot.

And as always I love my birds-in-motion shots, so here you go:

Here is a close-up of two.  Aren’t they beautiful?

I really like the lighter brown feathers on their wings.  They look distinct in the above picture, but against other backgrounds, the brown helps them blend completely.

Below is a comparison of the sandpipers with a Heermann’s Gull for size.  They’re very small birds.

Western Sandpipers eat aquatic insects, worms, small mollusks, and crustaceans from shallow water.  The sandpipers to the left of the gull above are searching for food.

I was photographing the sandpipers in some shallow water when I discovered a huge group of them napping and preening.  I almost walked into them, they were so well hidden.  You see the brown section at the bottom of the photograph?  Those are birds!

When you are close to them, you can hear the cheep noises that they constantly make.

Below is an even better picture.  You can really see how they blend here.

I saw them in other sections of the beach and when they were not eating, they always chose to be near debris that served as camouflage.

I’ve been tracking my life list of birds on Birdpost and today’s discoveries put me up to 82.