Editor:
Re: Feeding time, Sept. 21
Thank you for the terrific front page photo highlighting the sandpiper migration through Boundary Bay.
As many readers will be aware, a succession of hundreds of thousands of shorebirds have been passing through Delta in the last couple of months. Up to 50 different species stop here to feed, on their way between the Arctic and Central and South America.
The Western sandpipers, that you illustrated, are among the most numerous. At this time of year, it is the juvenile birds that are on our beaches.
Like several of the sandpiper family, they make their first long journey south unguided by adults. In fact, the females generally leave the nesting grounds first, followed by the males and the young birds of the year are the last to migrate.
How they know where to go is just another one of the many mysteries of migration that are beginning to be unraveled.
We are very fortunate in Delta to see such interesting birds, however briefly they are with us. This stopover is a short one and the onward journey is long: it may take them as far as Peru or Suriname.
We can all ensure these little birds have the peace and quiet they need to feed and rest. It is especially important people keep their dogs close at heel. Many birds are very disturbed by even the presence of a dog, let alone one running loose on the beach.
Anne Murray
