Shorebirds in Spring Hornsby

Now is a good time to visit Hornsby to study the 3 small peeps (as Allan and I did this morning).

Notice how the “frostier” semipalm and Western stick out in a group of brown Least.

Notice the chevron marks on flanks of Western and lack of on Semipalm.

Notice how colorful western is and how drab-brown Least currently is. If I am reading Birds of the World correctly, Least has not yet molted into alternate (breeding) plumage, while Semipalm and Western have.

And then there’s the bill…..quite different in these pix.

Also nice to see some migrating gulls, which were a nice hue of pink (more so in person)