Grassland Birds - Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda)

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     This is a continuation of the post on July 5 beginning a series in which I present photos of birds that are either residents of the U.S. National Grasslands or use the Grasslands as a breeding area. The Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda) breeds in the grasslands but spends the winters in Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil. Although a bird of prairies and grasslands, it is a Sandpiper, defined as a bird belonging to the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes), which also includes the woodcocks and the snipes.

Upland Sandpiper, Prairie Pothole Region of ND, July 2018
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens + 1.4x tc
1/2500 sec at f/6.3, ISO 500, handheld

Upland Sandpiper, Prairie Pothole Region of ND, July 2018
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens + 1.4x tc
1/2500 sec at f/6.3, ISO 500, handheld

The Upland Sandpiper is relatively easy to identify. The small head, long neck, short thin bill, long yellow legs and white eye-ring are distinctive. It helps that they are found inland, away from the coast, in areas not usually frequented by other shorebirds. 

Click on image for a larger view.

Upland Sandpiper, Medicine Lake NWR, Montana, July 2018
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens + 1.4x tc
1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 2000, handheld

The last three photos were taken on a windy day (a storm-jib type day) and the bird was having difficulty staying on this perch. I was able to get many shots of the bird with the wings in an uplifted position, providing good looks at the striking markings of the underwings. 

Upland Sandpiper, Medicine Lake NWR, Montana, July 2018
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens + 1.4x tc
1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 2000, handheld

The genus name for the Upland Sandpiper (Bartramia) commemorates William Bartram, the famous American naturalist and mentor of Alexander Wilson, the "father of American ornithology." 

Upland Sandpiper, Medicine Lake NWR, Montana, July 2018
Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera, 300mm f/4 IS Pro lens + 1.4x tc
1/3200 sec at f/8, ISO 2000, handheld

Someday I hope to see the courtship displays of the Upland Sandpiper which "include a spectacular flight where the male ascends until it is a speck in the sky, then descends in wide circles, wings fixed, singing, and finally retracting its wings and plummeting toward the ground." (W.E. Davis, Jr. Bird Observer 23: 140-141, 1995) 

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David Sparks

I retired in 2005 after 40 years of research and teaching at the University of Alabama in Birmingham (24 years), the University of Pennsylvania (8 years) and the Baylor College of Medicine (8 years). Photography is my retirement hobby.

Nature photography, especially bird photography, combines a number of things that I really enjoy: bird-watching, being outdoors, photography, travel, messing about with computers, and learning new skills and concepts.  I now spend much of my time engaged in these activities.

David Sibley in the preface to The Sibley Guide to Birds wrote "Birds are beautiful, in spectacular as well as subtle ways; their colors, shapes, actions, and sounds are among the most aesthetically pleasing in nature."  My goal is to acquire images that capture the beauty and uniqueness of selected species as well as images that highlight the engaging behaviors the birds exhibit.