{"id":34294,"date":"2015-09-26T06:24:43","date_gmt":"2015-09-26T12:24:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=34294"},"modified":"2015-09-26T06:44:03","modified_gmt":"2015-09-26T12:44:03","slug":"least-sandpiper-dang-theyre-tiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/09\/26\/least-sandpiper-dang-theyre-tiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Least Sandpiper – Dang, They’re Tiny!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The term “peeps” is common slang for the five smallest North American sandpipers and the Least Sandpiper is the smallest of the bunch. In fact they’re the smallest shorebird in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"least1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I photographed this one at Farmington Bay MBR two days ago as it foraged in the\u00a0shallow water and mud.\u00a0Their small size can be deceiving in a photo if there’s nothing in it for scale but these birds are even slightly smaller than a House Finch (.7 oz. vs .74 oz. for the finch). This bird was pretty timid as it hunkered down behind a small pile of mud for about a half hour before it ventured out but when it did it gave me plenty of\u00a0photographic opportunities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"least<\/p>\n

1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It even gave me a nice wing stretch that included a fanned tail that is partially visible with its head\u00a0facing only slightly away from me.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"least<\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/strong> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

But the bird didn’t fully cooperate when it performed a vertical wing stretch and gave me a butt shot instead. At least I got the eye with a catch light and even at this less than ideal angle I appreciate the look at all of the individual feathers of the fully extended\u00a0left wing.<\/p>\n

Least Sandpipers are long distance migrators, breeding in subarctic\/boreal Alaska and northern Canada and wintering in\u00a0Central America, northern South America and the southern U.S. Since they’re neither summer or winter residents in Utah I don’t have many opportunities with them. Many of my readers in the coastal states are likely quite familiar with this little sandpiper but finding this bird was quite an unusual treat for me.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In fact the Least Sandpiper is the smallest shorebird in the world.<\/p>\n

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