Hawaiian Wildlife: A Sanderling Shorebird
While walking along a few different beaches during our time in Kaua’i I met up with Sanderling shorebirds. Their white plumage provides a significant contrast to the sand and rocky shorelines they frequent. I learned their name in Hawaiian is huna kai which means sea foam. The manner in which they run back and forth with the foamy edge of the waves rolling up on land makes the name seem appropriate.
This bird was on the eastern edge of Ke’e Beach feeding in the small tidal pools dotting a flat mound of rock on the beach. I photographed for a few minutes while it danced around the water and picked at the unseen creatures in the pools.
When it seemed to become more curious in me and less interested in the rising water. The foam caught the feet a couple of times so I decided it was time to go. Here is one of the last where the bird flew up from the water racing over to an open spot to fish again.
Christopher Martin Photography 