Whimbrel

Well, here is another bird I had never heard of before this summer! What a beautiful bill!!

This is another photo taken from the boat and I did not know at the time what exactly this bird was. The whimbrel is a shorebird that’s larger than most, at 17″/43 cm. Notice how the bill curves downward. These birds breed in Arctic Alaska & Canada and winter in southern CA, Gulf Coast & southern Atlantic coast north to VA. So, this one must be on his or her way south! Is this where the term “snowbird” comes from? I wish I could have taken more photos of this brown beauty. Maybe we will encounter each other again in spring!

Birding, to me, has become like a meditation. It requires me to look away from myself, my problems, my daily worries. It causes me to look out and up to the sky, and makes me feel more connected to this beautiful world around me. I hope you are able to get outside during this beautiful time of year, enjoy the fresh, clean air and the leaves that may be changing where you live!

“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:2