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On October 1st, it was a gorgeously sunny day for strolling under blue skies along the sandy shores of Kokanee Creek Park. The bees were buzzing, corvids cawing, and gulls were feistily feeding on fish. But it was a lone, and possibly lonesome shorebird that caught my attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing at the end of a sandy point was a bird with bright yellowish-gold flecks on its crown and wings. I suspect this bird is a migrating golden-plover.
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When I first observed it,\u00a0 the bird was standing still and looking around. Then it would walk or scurry a few steps and pause again, occasionally bending over to peck its beak into the sand to acquire food. Apparently, golden-plovers really like to eat insects and invertebrates, although they won’t refuse berries and seeds.
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It also seemed quite happy wading in Kootenay Lake as it searched for food.
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After perusing Sibley, Cornell’s All About Birds, and iNaturalist, my father and I think this bird’s markings are most consistent with a juvenile American Golden-Plover<\/a> as opposed to the primarily coastal Pacific Golden-Plover<\/a>. However, neither are common migrants through this area, so I am wondering what others think? I also wonder if this is the first recorded visit of a golden-plover to Kokanee Creek Park?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On October 1st, it was a gorgeously sunny day for strolling under blue skies along the sandy shores of Kokanee Creek Park. The bees were buzzing, corvids cawing, and gulls were feistily feeding on fish. But it was a … Continue reading