Spotted Sandpiper Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: My usual sighting of a Spotted Sandpiper is when one flies away from me, with that characteristics, rapid shallow-wing-beat flight of theirs. They breed here and I do see them occasionally throughout the spring and summer, but I have surprisingly few photos of them. The ONLY photos I have of them in nice sunshine are photos 7 through 12 below, of the same bird at Newton Hills State Park on the morning of May 10th, 2020. It was an unseasonably cold morning, with temperatures hovering right around freezing, so perhaps with the cold this bird wasn't as apt to use energy and fly away! No matter the reason, I got some truly wonderful, close range shots of him that morning.

Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius


Spotted Sandpiper 1	Spotted Sandpiper 2	Spotted Sandpiper 3	Spotted Sandpiper 4
August 12th, 2005	August 12th, 2005	August 12th, 2005	May 27th, 2013
Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Lake Thompson, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota
Bird transitioning out of summer plumage	Non-breeding / immature bird at lake's edge	Non-breeding / immature bird at lake's edge	Adult spring-plumaged bird in shallow water

Spotted Sandpiper 5	Spotted Sandpiper 6	Spotted Sandpiper 7	Spotted Sandpiper 8
May 27th, 2013	May 27th, 2013	May 10th, 2020	May 10th, 2020
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Minnehaha County, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota
Bird foraging at water's edge in shallow stream	Bird foraging at water's edge in shallow stream	Profile of bird in sunlight on gravelly beach	Profile of bird in sunlight on gravelly beach

Spotted Sandpiper 9	Spotted Sandpiper 10	Spotted Sandpiper 11	Spotted Sandpiper 12
May 10th, 2020	May 10th, 2020	May 10th, 2020	May 10th, 2020
Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota
Bird walking on gravelly beach in sunlight	Sandpiper on shoreline of Lake Lakota	Sandpiper on shoreline of Lake Lakota	Bird standing in shallow water at lake edge

Spotted Sandpiper 13	Spotted Sandpiper 14	Spotted Sandpiper 15	Spotted Sandpiper 16
May 21st, 2017	May 21st, 2017	May 21st, 2017	May 21st, 2017
Lincoln County, South Dakota	Lincoln County, South Dakota	Lincoln County, South Dakota	Lincoln County, South Dakota
Bird walking in thick grass	Sandpiper posing in grass at edge of flooded ditch	Profile of bird at edge of a flooded ditch	Profile of bird at edge of a flooded ditch

Spotted Sandpiper 17	Spotted Sandpiper 18
August 1st, 2020	August 2nd, 2020
Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota
Juvenile, first-year bird on sandy beach	Bird walking on shoreline of Lake Lakota