Bird of the Week: Semipalmated Sandpiper
Even birders struggle to distinguish Semipalmated Sandpipers from Western Sandpipers.
Semipalmated Sandpiper, Hartney Bay, Cordova
Generally, Semipalmateds are paler than Westerns, less rufous in coloration. The bill is a bit blunter. But Semipalmateds can be pretty rufous, and generally sandpipers’ bills are probing the mud, making comparison tough. As WC said, it’s a tough identification in the field. This photo catches a field mark that is quite hard to see in the field but definitive: note the webbing between the toes. That’s the “semipalmated” business in the bird’s name.
This is another photo taken while laid out flat in the Hartney Bay mud. WC would bird there every spring if he could afford it.
Camera geek stuff: f20, 1/200, ISO1600.
For more bird photos, please visit Frozen Feather Images.
Here is hope that everyone has a safe,celebratory 4th, even with a jag of popskull. 🙂
It is hump day,know any Palin’s with humps?
http://abc7.com/entertainment/bristol-palin-daughter-of-sarah-palin-shares-sonogram-image/815484/
Seems like the cub grizfter has more degrees than Mommy. Bristol has the BS and PHD down to an artform.
Story going around Bristol’s latest little unplanned catastrophe was somehow planned.
Are they genetically two different species or are they variants within the same species?
Speaking of variants – this is from The NY Times and between the misspelling of Bristol’s name as well as the general tone, I’m about to ask a serious question. Is this a joke or did this happen? I suspect it’s satire because of the name and the pregnancy announcement but I don’t always trust myself when it comes to Palin.
WASILLA, Alaska – Moments after the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right to same sex marriage, former Fox News commentator Sarah Palin called for the “full and unconditional impeachment of the Supreme Court which voted in favor of non traditional marriage in its various forms across our great nation.”
Palin, a longtime staunch defender of traditional marriage, made her comments in a prepared statement from her home studio. The former Alaska Governor actually did not specifically name the Justices who voted in dissent, and even suggested that the entire court “start over from scratch” to restore the “original values and principles set down by our Founding Fathers and patriotic ancestors.”
It is not clear if Palin’s studio statement about the Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage was viewed or recorded, because Fox News declined to renew Palin’s contract as political commentator on June 1. No live broadcast facilities or satellite capabilities were “on-line” during her announcement from the darkened studio, say Fox News sources.
Suggesting that her words and the core beliefs of conservatives across the nation “will fall on deaf ears” – a slightly veiled jab at President Obama – Palin remarked that the efforts of traditional family value supporters will “probably not even make it past the White House fence“, alluding to a series of recent and embarrassing Secret Service blunders during Obama’s term.
Palin, 58, is not the only family member making headlines these days. The former vice presidential candidate’s oldest daughter Bristle, recently announced her second out-of-wedlock pregnancy; news greeted with harsh reaction from many people who felt the birth announcement via blog was less than celebratory, quoting the expectant mother’s own words: “a huge disappointment.”
A handwritten statement by Palin, left on her front lawn for members of the press, concluded with “dire words of future warning” for traditional American values:
“It is the continuing agenda of the Obama administration, and the lack of veto power shown by the members of The Court, once again led by Chief Justice Roberts who disappointed conservatives once before by voting for the Obamacare individual mandate. The further eroding of the once great strides that have guided us throughout this great nation’s history, with Mama grizzlies and ordinary women and men in the real America taking back our government in 2016 and the core principle values that have been trampled today in their memories footsteps is a watershed event.”
Or Bachmann!
http://nationalreport.net/marcus-bachmann-files-divorce-fresh-heels-scotus-ruling/
Oh – Bristol is pregnant! (I almost typed Bristle – curse you NY Times!)
Well, I hope she has an uneventful pregnancy and safe delivery. Does this mean that Tripp will be spending more time with his father and his other siblings now and in the future? That would be nice.
That damned ex-marine must have performed wine cooler maneuvers in the dark without Bristol being awake,again. Apparently she was mad because he made her move to Kentucky and she claimed he was too controlling. Apparently she hasn’t met her mother,yet.
Well, she’s just as controlling as her mother if she decided to get pregnant without informing the father-to-be that was on the agenda.
Hee Haw gang – that’s a keeper!
http://reverbpress.com/news/dan-savage-slams-fox-news-hypocrisy-over-bristol-palin/
🙂 🙂
You know, Gomez and Morticia Addams were married prior to having their children. 😉
The semi-palmation doesn’t seem to give this bird an evolutionary advantage over its kin. I haven’t found a reason for the palmation,other than as a way to tell birds apart. Is there some moose bird hanky panky involved here?
http://juanitajean.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-06-27-at-11.25.31-AM.png
Here is a Donald Trump pinata. Notice the extensive palmation of his grubby little hands? Sorry,WC. Couldn’t resist.