Purple Sandpiper - 01 Nov 2025
Shout-out to Bobby Irwin for finding a Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) at Sterling State Park this morning. And to Arnie Buhler (and Siri) for alerting me. See, I was sitting at lunch w/ my Apple Earpad in and got a message from Discord that "Its still here, and close". Then, another saying "Sterling State Park". That prompted a search of Discord and the Monroe Rare Bird Forum where the report from Bobby was reported. Robin and I were out the door in 5 minutes.
We stopped along the way to get a coffee, and I alerted Jack and Janet Volker (and Coco). They were already at Sterling but didn't know about the Purple Sandpiper so they were waiting as we pulled up in the parking lot next to the Campground at the s. end of the park.
A walk out to the beach brought us to where Dave Riddle, Lyndsey Kunkel, Isaac Polanski, and (later) Bonnie Penet were scoping the Purple Sandpiper 60' away among 4 Killdeer in the sand away from the shoreline. The reported Dunlin were not seen.
After some long-distance photos were taken with the 600/4 lens we all walked further south to view the bird from the south side where it was better illuminated by the (partial) afternoon Sun.
I couldn't ignore the Killdeer nearby.
A few photos more of the sandpiper
and it flew off to the shoreline where it would be later seen with several Dunlin on the rocky jetty nearby.
A palearctic breeder the Purple Sandpiper winters mostly along the east coast but a few birds are seen along the Great Lakes coastline occasionally.
Our last sighting of this bird in Monroe occurred a few years ago at Pt. Mouillee in December 2021.
Happy November!
William C. Sterling State Park, Monroe US-MI 41.90299, -83.33458, Monroe, Michigan, US
Nov 1, 2025 1:02 PM - 1:25 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.153 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Mostly cloudy, 55F, calm
6 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 2
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 5
Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) 1 Continuing on beach at s end of campground among Killdeer. Pics.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 6
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Nov 1, 2025 1:02 PM - 1:25 PM
Protocol: Traveling
1.153 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Mostly cloudy, 55F, calm
6 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 2
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 2
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 5
Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) 1 Continuing on beach at s end of campground among Killdeer. Pics.
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) 6
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
