Birds

Spotted Sandpiper

Clarke Green

08 May 2025 — 1 min read

Spotted Sandpiper

A quick disclaimer - these photos are from the past couple of years, I've seen the Sanpdpiper this spring several times but have yet to get a good picture.

Sandpipers are usually associated with the shore, but the Spotted Sandpiper is a frequent sight around the ponds and rivers of Chester County.

A walk beside the ponds may startle this robin-sized bird to make a low, stiff-winged flight over the water to the other side. If you are fortunate you'll see it teetering along as it forges along the waterline.

The Spotted Sandpiper has a white stripe at the base of it's wings in flight.

During breeding season they have bold dark spots on a white breast and belly that lack spots and are plain white during the rest of the year.

During mating season spotted sandpiper females may mate with up to five males during breeding season. During each pairing she lays a clutch of eggs and moves on. The male will incubate the eggs and care for the young. They nest in a shallow depression scooped out of the earth lined with grass, moss, and feather sheltered by shrubs or weeds, or perhaps a fallen log.

I have not seen a nest in the park, nor any young, so I can't be sure that Spotted Sandpipers are breeding here. They do return year after year, so it is very likely they do.

Dragonfly Life Cycle

This is the first of several posts about Odonata; an order of predatory flying insects that includes dragonflies (Anisoptera) and damselflies (Zygoptera). This is a generalized life cycle that points out stages you may observe at the park. You can see up to a dozen species of dragonflies along the

This Week at Nixon Park - June 21-28

A hot week. Enough said about that. I like to walk slowly through the beech grove when the weather is hot (truth be told I walk slowly everywhere when the weather is hot). The canopy of trees shades the trail almost completely, and the undergrowth is lush, cool and green.

Swallows

Tree Swallows, Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Barn Swallows frequent the ponds and meadows of the park. Stand quietly and watch as they speed by, often just a few feet away, darting and weaving through the air so effortlessly you'd swear they're doing it just for fun.

This Week at Nixon Park - June 14-21

Another week of rain and unseasonably cool temperatures topped off by a strong storm with around an inch and a quarter of rain and 50 MPH wind gusts. When they swept through the park those winds felled a few trees and many branches.

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Dragonfly Life Cycle

This Week at Nixon Park - June 21-28

Swallows

This Week at Nixon Park - June 14-21