A Sad Event

When I arrived at Allens Pond Audubon Sanctuary to be involved and photograph monarch tagging, I was notified by one of the staff members about a sad happening.  She had gone out early to Gooseberry in order to see if the monarchs were swarming and on the way back found 3 Dunlins that had been hit by an automobile on East Beach Road in Westport.  It was at the time of extremely high tide and the shorebirds must have been pushed up onto the road and someone just sped through and had hit them.

The photographs show the Dunlins and and help point out some of their distinguishing features.  These Dunlins are in winter plumage, in the summer they are more reddish brown and have a large black patch on the belly.  Dunlins are a medium-size, deep-chested shorebird with a small head, short neck, and a long bill, which tapers to a fine point and droops at the tip.  The wingtips fall short of the tail tip.

 

In flight they show a broad white wing-stripe with dark central tail feathers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I plead with those people driving near the ocean to watch out for any birds on the road and please avoid hitting them.

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