With a tough reproductive year along the river for Spotted Sandpipers (as mentioned in the previous article) it’s nice to see some successful Spotties. This photo shows two newly hatched chicks and the hopefully the other two eggs will hatch. This photo was likely taken minutes after these chicks pushed out of their eggs.

Sandpiper chicks are precocial and Spotted Sandpiper chicks are known to begin their famous teetering motion within 30 minutes of birth.

UPDATE July 18: It looks like all 4 eggs hatched but only one chick could be found two days later. High mortality rates… Also of note is that in the last week a Merlin and Kestrel have been noted hunting the area.