Winter Shorebirding

Back on December 2 I joined a group of hardy birders on the annual "Purple Palooza" up at Presqu'ile Provincial Park, hosted by Doug McRae. The goal of the trip is mainly to find Purple Sandpipers, which we had success with - along with the bonus of three other shorebird species! Not something that happens often in the winter in Ontario! Due to the fairly bad weather conditions (windy, cold and rainy), about 95% of my shots turned out horrible, but here's a few that worked out decently:

My first time ever photographing a Purple Sandpiper - prior to this year I had only seen one, back in 2004 in Michigan...saw 6 in a little over a month this year!

 The Purple was keeping company with a White-rumped Sandpiper and a Dunlin - none of my Dunlin shots turned out but here's the White-rump

 

 

We originally saw just the three, but when we rounded a corner a Sanderling had appeared with the group!

 

All four of them together

   

Little bit sharper (and zoomed out)

The Purple again 

  

Despite the crappy weather it turned out to be a fun day with great company, and it was worth the trip up for the Purple photos and the awesome brunch afterwards - thanks Doug!