{"id":103431,"date":"2022-06-19T05:02:57","date_gmt":"2022-06-19T11:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=103431"},"modified":"2025-09-07T16:10:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T21:10:12","slug":"happy-fathers-day-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/19\/happy-fathers-day-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Father’s Day 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in my life and to any dads reading this.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SpottedSpotted Sandpiper on a stump in a creek \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I was going to do a post about a wildflower I photographed last week but that wildflower is a noxious weed in Utah and I didn’t think that would be appropriate for Father’s Day.<\/p>\n

Instead I selected a photo of a Spotted Sandpiper I photographed on a stump in a creek last week high in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why would I select a sandpiper photograph to express my Happy Father’s Day wishes to all the dads out there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reason is that Spotted Sandpiper “dads” do almost all<\/em> of the incubating for their chicks. They also rear the chicks. They are hands, or wings, on dads. In this species the females generally lay the eggs and the males do all of the work raising the young.<\/p>\n

The male Spotted Sandpipers are the ones trying to keep up with the chicks as they run around looking for food and learning about their world. Believe me, these dads work hard to protect their young. I’ve observed them doing just that for many hours.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> Female Spotted Sandpipers can store sperm internally for up to a month so sometimes the males are raising young that aren’t his own.<\/p>\n

To my sons, my friends and to all the men out there raising your families, biological or chosen, I wish you the best on Father’s Day. I hope the day brings you joy.<\/p>\n

On this day I miss my Dads, one died way too young and the other was chosen.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Spotted Sandpiper photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why would I select a sandpiper photograph to express my Happy Father’s Day wishes to all the dads out there?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,504,1731,26,773],"tags":[2209,4004,3940,3843,12963,12125,4069,4104,9626,3521,992,274,2407,165,5113,3996],"class_list":["post-103431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-spotted-sandpipers","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-actitis-macularia","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-creek","tag-dads","tag-incubating","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-sandpiper","tag-sandpipers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-spotted-sandpiper","tag-spring","tag-stump","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-fathers-day-mia-mcpherson-8135.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qUf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90610,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/20\/spotted-sandpiper-foraging-in-common-water-crowfoot\/","url_meta":{"origin":103431,"position":0},"title":"Spotted Sandpiper Foraging In White Water Crowfoot","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I photographed an adult Spotted Sandpiper foraging in Common Water-Crowfoot in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Spotted Sandpiper foraging in White Water Crowfoot, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-adult-foraging-mia-mcpherson-6544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-adult-foraging-mia-mcpherson-6544.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-adult-stump-calling-mia-mcpherson-4590.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-adult-stump-calling-mia-mcpherson-4590.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-adult-stump-calling-mia-mcpherson-4590.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-adult-stump-calling-mia-mcpherson-4590.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59283,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/31\/photographing-young-spotted-sandpiper-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":103431,"position":2},"title":"Photographing Young Spotted Sandpiper Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 31, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to get back out into the field yesterday and I had a marvelous time photographing young Spotted Sandpiper chicks and learning more about their behaviors near a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Willows and a young Spotted Sandpiper chick, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-chick-willows-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-chick-willows-mia-mcpherson-3862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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chick swimming across an alpine creek, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spotted-sandpiper-chick-swimming-in-creek-mia-mcpherson-3504.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spotted-sandpiper-chick-swimming-in-creek-mia-mcpherson-3504.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spotted-sandpiper-chick-swimming-in-creek-mia-mcpherson-3504.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spotted-sandpiper-chick-swimming-in-creek-mia-mcpherson-3504.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":91759,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/07\/one-spotted-sandpiper-that-is-no-more\/","url_meta":{"origin":103431,"position":4},"title":"One Spotted Sandpiper That Is No More","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I watched as the mink dashed across the shallow creek with the sandpiper in its jaws, climbed over a log, and out of my sight. 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