I recently finished reading "The Narrow Edge" by Deborah Cramer which chronicles the migration of red knots across the globe. It was a fantastic view into their life cycle and a pleasure to read, though at times it was a bit depressing to be reminded of the challenges these threatened shorebirds face. When I moved to Massachusetts back in 2011, the red knot was a bird high on my wish list to find. In fact, I initially read about Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island, which has become my default photography location now, because it was listed as a good chance for migrating knots. The author of the book is from Massachusetts, and her epilogue takes place in the Refuge, so after finishing it I wanted to dig into my archives to see if I had any images worth sharing from the lone time I found knots to photograph there.
These photos are from October 2011 on what was only my third trip to Parker River NWR. I went for a sunrise and initially found a large flock of semipalmated sandpipers and sanderlings feeding on the tidal flats. It was quite a remarkable experience with a negative low tide and an abundance of tiny clams that the sandpipers were pulling from the exposed flats. The red knot above is swallowing one down whole. In the chaos of this feeding frenzy, there was a small group of about 12 red knots moving through the crowd. I felt fortunate to find them at the time, and now 8 years later I haven't been lucky enough to have another chance for them in front of my lens.
The adults in breeding plumage are known for their gorgeous cinnamon color, but the nonbreeding plumage has many interesting details as well, like the scaled wing feathers on the juvenile above. The photo below would have been a nice portrait to show off some details, if only the sanderling hadn't walked into the frame!
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