{"id":15546,"date":"2014-08-03T05:31:27","date_gmt":"2014-08-03T11:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15546"},"modified":"2025-08-17T13:19:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T18:19:30","slug":"foraging-solitary-sandpiper-in-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/03\/foraging-solitary-sandpiper-in-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Foraging Solitary Sandpiper in Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ForagingForaging Solitary Sandpiper – Nikon D7100, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On my recent trip to Idaho and Montana I was delighted to photograph a foraging Solitary Sandpiper in a farm pond in Beaverhead County, Montana.<\/p>\n

Solitary Sandpipers are not that common in that area. These shorebirds winter in the Caribbean, Central and South America and breed primarily in bogs and northern forests in Canada and Alaska.<\/p>\n

An interesting fact about Solitary Sandpipers is that they nest in abandoned nests in trees that were built by other birds, this is a unique behavior among shorebirds.<\/p>\n

This Solitary Sandpiper and a Spotted Sandpiper were foraging in the same pond. The Spotted Sandpiper was quite defensive of its foraging territory and attempted to chase off the Solitary Sandpiper<\/span><\/a> several times.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On my recent trip to Idaho and Montana I was delighted to photograph a foraging Solitary Sandpiper in a farm pond in Beaverhead County, MT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1513,27,223,12,2621],"tags":[4004,822,4974,4136,13920,1984,3521,992,274,2622,2315,2623,3996],"class_list":["post-15546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-solitary-sandpipers","tag-adult","tag-defensive","tag-farm-pond","tag-foraging","tag-mountain-valley","tag-pond","tag-sandpiper","tag-sandpipers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-solitary-sandpiper","tag-summer-3","tag-tringa-solitaria","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-adult-montana-mia-mcpherson-4873.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-42K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":142947,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/17\/migrating-pectoral-sandpiper-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":15546,"position":0},"title":"Migrating Pectoral Sandpiper In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 17, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week, I was delighted to photograph a migrating Pectoral Sandpiper at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pectoral Sandpiper in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pectoral-sandpiper-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pectoral-sandpiper-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pectoral-sandpiper-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/pectoral-sandpiper-oklahoma-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40544,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/07\/16\/migrating-least-sandpiper-at-red-rock-lakes-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":15546,"position":1},"title":"Migrating Least Sandpiper at Red Rock Lakes NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this migrating Least Sandpiper in the same pond as the Wilson's Phalarope chick at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge but on different days.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Least Sandpiper with a mud-covered foot, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/least-sandpiper-female-alkali-pond-mia-mcpherson-4314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/least-sandpiper-female-alkali-pond-mia-mcpherson-4314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/least-sandpiper-female-alkali-pond-mia-mcpherson-4314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/least-sandpiper-female-alkali-pond-mia-mcpherson-4314.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41207,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/21\/solitary-sandpiper-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":15546,"position":2},"title":"Solitary Sandpiper at Bear River MBR – Not All Range Maps Are The Same","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Solitary Sandpiper two days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and saw several more and I also photographed a pair of them the week before.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solitary Sandpiper stretching, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-stretching-mia-mcpherson-1937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-stretching-mia-mcpherson-1937.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-stretching-mia-mcpherson-1937.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/solitary-sandpiper-stretching-mia-mcpherson-1937.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":143249,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/07\/surfing-spotted-sandpipers-on-the-arkansas-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":15546,"position":3},"title":"Surfing Spotted Sandpipers On The Arkansas River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw something I\u2019d never seen before, Spotted Sandpipers riding fast-moving logs down the Arkansas River while foraging! Wild and totally unexpected!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Sandpiper on a log floating down the Arkansas River, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/spotted-sandpiper-log-arkansas-river-mia-mcpherson-1777.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/spotted-sandpiper-log-arkansas-river-mia-mcpherson-1777.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/spotted-sandpiper-log-arkansas-river-mia-mcpherson-1777.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/spotted-sandpiper-log-arkansas-river-mia-mcpherson-1777.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":150461,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/18\/spring-spotted-sandpiper-in-breeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":15546,"position":4},"title":"Spring Spotted Sandpiper In Breeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in May I was delighted to photograph this fluffed-up Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage while I was near the water at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Sandpiper in breeding plumage at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/spotted-sandpiper-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1103.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/spotted-sandpiper-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1103.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/spotted-sandpiper-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1103.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/spotted-sandpiper-breeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-1103.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9028,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/29\/spots-before-my-eyes-spotted-sandpipers-that-is\/","url_meta":{"origin":15546,"position":5},"title":"Spots before my eyes – Spotted Sandpipers that is","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"So I finally have images of the breeding plumage of this small shorebird that show the spots that gave this bird the name Spotted Sandpiper!","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nonbreeding Spotted Sandpiper in Florida. 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