Sanderling

During our 20 July 2019 juant to Ocean Shores, Washington, I had no trouble identifying this first sandpiper as a Sanderling. The next shorebirds, with chestnut faces, threw me for a loop. Visions  of rare stints danced in  my head—until I tealized they were Sanderlings still in breeding plumage. Sanderlings breed in the Arctic and winter along ocean coasts, from British Columbia and Massachusetts south to southern Chile and Argentina. A large flock mingled with Semipalmated Plovers during our walk down the beach.