Adult, Pectoral Sandpiper

This past week saw an extraordinary arrival of Pectoral Sandpipers into Washington and British Columbia. In a typical Spring, seeing an adult Pectoral Sandpiper is a relatively rare treat. This year there are birds everywhere. Sixteen were reported from Niqually National Wildlife Refuge, just south of Olympia, Washington; 20 or so from along the Chehalis River at Brady and 20 up at the high tide roost at the Iona Sewage Ponds near Vancouver Airport, British Columbia. Four birds also showed up at Montlake Fill in Seattle and have spent the past week feeding along Shovelor Pond.

In Spring most birds use the central flyway through the priarie states of the USA and Canada on their way to the breeding grounds in the Northwest Territories and Alaska. They are much more common along the pacific coast in Autumn, mostly juvenile birds travelling directly down from Alaska rather than following the adults which return south east of the Rocky Mountains.

Pectorals are long distance migrants and superb flyers. Twice a year they make the journey to and from their wintering grounds in the southern half of South America, Australia and New Zealand up to the high Arctic - a round trip of 15-20,000 miles. The birds at Montlake Fill are regularly harassed by American Crows and when they take to the wing the aerobatics using those long wings would put a swallow to shame.

The birds stayed at Montlake Fill for over a week. With the bulk of shorebird migration already over it is likely the birds were waiting a few days to fatten themselves enough so they could make the flight to Alaska and perhaps as far as the Seward or Chukchi Penninsulas in a single jump.