Muscota Marsh — The Chronicler's Tales

“. . . The tide
Is higher or lower. He couldn’t tell you which.
His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied,

Looking for something, something, something.
Poor bird, he is obsessed!”

— Elizabeth Bishop, The Sandpiper

Sandpipers (order: Charadriiformes) often visit Central Park and Muscota Marsh (immediately north of Inwood Hill Park) during migration and give us a few days of delight as they run up and down the mudflats, lakeshores and salt marshes. I've seen three kinds of these shorebirds in the last few years: Solitary Sandpipers, Spotted Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers.

*Spotted sandpiper on the shore of the Lake, Central Park, May 1, 2017*

In The Sandpiper, Elizabeth Bishop really captures the sandpipers I've seen when she writes, "Poor bird, he is obsessed!" The sandpipers can't seem to stop, can't seem to take a rest as they hunt for food, or fly off briefly and then come back, only to bob and peck and peck and bob some more.

*Solitary sandpiper, near the compost heap in northern Central Park, April 27, 2017*

When I was putting together the spotted sandpiper video, I found footage of sandpipers from 2015 at Muscota Marsh, but could tell the birds were neither the solitary nor the spotted sandpipers I'd seen recently. I asked around, and was told by a superb young birder that these were least sandpipers. I believe him, but if someone disagrees, let me know and I'll do more research! These sandpipers are the smallest of the three, and are part of the group of five small sandpipers known as "peeps."

*Least sandpipers, Muscota Marsh, Aug. 13, 2015*

I've now done three videos of sandpipers: in Central Park, solitary sandpipers I saw on April 27 this year in the mudflats south of Conservatory Garden; spotted sandpipers I saw on May 1, 2017, at the Lake, and in April, July and August 2014 at Turtle Pond and the Pond; and a pair of least sandpipers I saw at Muscota Marsh on Aug. 13, 2015. The composers I used vary, but all the music features flutes for the pipers.

Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby. Three or four solitary sandpipers (Tringa solitaria) were seen April 27, 2017, near the compost heaps in Central Park. They lived up to their name, pecking for food individually, and announcing displeasure if another sandpiper came too close. Part of the Filming the Feathers series.

Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby. These spotted sandpipers (Actitis macularius) were filmed in Central Park in 2014 and 2017. Part of the Filming the Feathers series. Music is by Louis François Philippe Drouet, Flute Trio in B-flat major, performed by Paolo Dalmoro, and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source.

Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby. A couple of least sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) filmed Aug. 13, 2016, at Muscota Marsh, in the Inwood section of Manhattan. Music is by Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke, Octet, Op. 216, performed by the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet and obtained from MusOpen.org, a royalty-free music source.

Here are more photos of the solitary sandpipers (Tringa solitaria) I saw flitting around the mud near the compost heap on April 27. They lived up to their name: I watched three or four solitaries that day, and only once did one approach a second bird, only to be shooed off immediately.