{"id":46609,"date":"2017-05-05T05:06:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-05T11:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46609"},"modified":"2025-09-06T14:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T19:18:08","slug":"teetering-spotted-sandpiper-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/05\/teetering-spotted-sandpiper-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Teetering Spotted Sandpiper at Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SpottedSpotted Sandpiper next to the Bear River – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning was clear, crisp and I felt the need to spend time alone in nature because it soothes me and quite frankly of late I feel I need to be out where the birds are singing instead of watching the news.<\/p>\n

I headed to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> because of the wide open spaces, the sounds of the marsh and of course the birds.<\/p>\n

I reached the off ramp of I-15 just as the rays of the sun started to light up the marshes on the drive out to the auto tour route.<\/p>\n

It was warm enough to have my window down to hear the calls of the curlews overhead, the chittering of kingbirds and meadowlarks singing their morning songs.<\/p>\n

When I reached the beginning of the auto tour route I was surprised that I didn’t see even a single fisherman along the banks of the river.<\/p>\n

I felt like I had the place to myself and when I reached the end of the auto tour loop I hadn’t seen another vehicle so I guess for a bit I did have it all to myself.<\/p>\n

I stopped at the far northwestern tip of the auto tour route to watch some Canada Geese families swimming in the river as Cliff Swallows flew overhead and was entertained by a Red-winged Blackbird dive bombing a male Northern Harrier.<\/p>\n

After I took a few images of the Canada Geese and their goslings, I sat simply savoring the moment when I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye.<\/p>\n

The movement and bird that caught my eye was a Spotted Sandpiper teetering\u00a0 on a rock right next to the water.<\/p>\n

I adore Spotted Sandpipers so I just had to take images of the butt bouncing bird.<\/p>\n

Still images can’t capture the teetering but I found a video that shows what they look like when they bounce up and down and it can be seen here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

And you can listen to the song of Spotted Sandpipers here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

I was able to get a few photos of the sandpiper before it flew off due to the interaction of the blackbird and the harrier.<\/p>\n

A few Spotted Sandpiper facts:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Female Spotted Sandpipers may mate with up to four males, the males then incubate the eggs she lays and the males raise the young. This is called polyandry. There are exceptions to this where the female mates with only one male and does a little to help raise the young.<\/p>\n

Another thing that I find very interesting about Spotted Sandpipers is that the females can store sperm internally for up to one month so the eggs they lay may be fathered by more than one male.<\/p>\n

When I left the refuge yesterday I felt refreshed and rejuvenated by my time alone with the birds and the marshes.<\/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":"

The movement and bird that caught my eye was a Spotted Sandpiper teetering on a rock right next to the water. I adore Spotted Sandpipers so I just had to take images of the butt bouncing bird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154621,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,504,26],"tags":[2209,5853,992,274,4735,5851,2407,5852],"class_list":["post-46609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-spotted-sandpipers","category-utah","tag-actitis-macularia","tag-bouncing","tag-sandpipers","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-song","tag-sound","tag-spotted-sandpiper","tag-teetering"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9774.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-c7L","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93117,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/08\/10\/hatch-year-spotted-sandpiper-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":46609,"position":0},"title":"Hatch Year Spotted Sandpiper at Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was looking through my older images and came across this one of a hatch year Spotted Sandpiper on some rocks at Bear River MBR.","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":"Hatch year Spotted Sandpiper, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9116.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-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9116.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9116.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-9116.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":46609,"position":1},"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":143249,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/05\/07\/surfing-spotted-sandpipers-on-the-arkansas-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":46609,"position":2},"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, 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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":57634,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/05\/adult-spotted-sandpiper-on-the-weber-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":46609,"position":4},"title":"Adult Spotted Sandpiper On The Weber River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago while near the Weber River up in Summit County I heard a familiar sound and I knew from that sound that a Spotted Sandpiper was nearby.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spotted Sandpiper on the Weber River, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-weber-river-mia-mcpherson-1906.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-weber-river-mia-mcpherson-1906.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-weber-river-mia-mcpherson-1906.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/spotted-sandpiper-weber-river-mia-mcpherson-1906.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35305,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/07\/an-alert-spotted-sandpiper-in-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":46609,"position":5},"title":"An Alert Spotted Sandpiper in Nonbreeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This alert Spotted Sandpiper was photographed at Fort De Soto County Park in January of 2009 as it walked down some rip rap towards the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An alert Spotted Sandpiper on rip rap at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, 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