A white-rumped sandpiper wades in to its belly while probing for invertebrates buried in the mud of a brackish pond. Small numbers of these shorebirds pass through the area during spring migration on their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic. I lay in the mud at the edge of the water for over an hour, letting the birds get comfortable with me. This bird spent 15-20 minutes foraging nearby, allowing me to capture this close-up image.
tagged: shorebird sandpiper florida national wildlife refuge migration bird
