A couple of days ago I saw my first sanderling (Calidris alba) and I’ve now added a new album of sanderling photos to my gallery.
I made a special trip to the small Bay of Plenty settlement of Maketu (North Island, New Zealand) to find the bird, armed with sighting info gleaned from BirdingNZ.net. Loaded with 16+ kg of photography gear, my Kiboko pack made the 6 km return jog along the beach remarkably comfortable (I highly recommend this pack to anyone needing to cart big glass around).
Sanderlings are Arctic breeding shorebirds that disperse widely around the world when not breeding. They are rare but regular vagrants to New Zealand, and while here they prefer sandy beaches where they feed actively along the tide line, rebuilding their tiny bodies for the epic return journey.