> Hi Tweets,
>
> It sounds like there is beginning to be a southward movement of
> sandpipers, and I had a question. When is the best time to see
> shorebirds, high tide, incoming tide, outgoing tide, or low tide, or does
> it not make a difference?
>
It usually depends on where you're birding. If you're going to a mud
flat where they like to feed, and it is covered at high tide, you'll
need to go at a low tide. If you find a place where they roost
during high tide, then, obviously, you should go at high tide. I
haven't seen much difference between outgoing and incoming tides.

One of my favorite places to go watch shorebirds was poor during a
low tide, because there were several square miles of exposed mudflat
for them to spread out and feed. But as the tide came in, the birds
packed in closer and closer to shore, and finally fly over the levee
I was standing on and roost on an island in the lake behind me. If
you sat low against the lake side of the levee, the birds would fly
right over you, not more than five feet off the ground. I often went
out there just to sit as they flew in. It was spectacular.

Where ever you go, try visiting a few times at different tides. It
won't take long to find the best time.
jw
Jane Westervelt
Steve Kalloger
Moscow, ID