These are some photos of migrating Short-billed Dowitchers, along with two traveling companions. Long-billed Dowitchers, which are hard to distinguish from the Short-billed, are not very common here.
A smaller Stilt Sandpiper joins the Dowitchers to forage for food.
In the next photo, two Dowitchers are resting the background while a Black-bellied Plover does some preening. This is a male plover in partial breeding plumage. The underside and the side of the head are entirely black on a breeding male. Non-breeding birds have a mostly white or gray underside. Resting shorebirds tuck their beaks and one leg to preserve heat.
The Plover and Sandpiper will continue migrating north into the arctic regions of Canada. The Dowitchers breed along the southern Alaska coast, the northern part of Alberta/Saskatchewan and along the southern part of Hudson Bay.
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