Peepsy Shore

For those of you who know me personally, you definitely also know that my mom is a total freak for birds. She's the most expert bird-watcher I know and can spot any variety from a mile away. She e-mailed the below message from one of the listservs that she follows for birding news and sightings. It's a follow-up to a previous sighting that just so happened to occur on April 1......

Peep Prediction Correct - 3 species at Stone Harbor

posted by Don F. | 11:59 AM

IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED IT OUT YET, EVERYTHING FROM TODAY (APRIL 1!) ABOVE THIS POST, AND INCLUDING IT, IS. . . APRIL FOOL'S!





[As The Shorebird Guide teaches, "One of the most fundamental steps in identifying a shorebird is to take note of its basic structure. At a minimum this includes looking at how long its legs are and what shape and how long or thick its bill is." To emphasize these features while de-emphasizing plumage aspect, I've reproduced this photo in black and white. Note how the far right and 4th from right birds are extremely long-legged, while the second and third from left are noticeably short-legged. The birds second and third from the left also display a unique posture, with bill pointing skyward, although one could confuse them with the far right bird if one used just a single field character. However, the two characters combined clearly identify birds 2 and 3 as Yellow Peep. Stone Harbor this morning, click to enlarge photos.]

How cute is the photo??? I think this one might end up being a computer desktop image for me....