“The
fleeing sandpipers turn about suddenly and chase back the sea!”
~ J.W. Hackett
~ 1929 ~ 2015
~ James William Hackett was an American poet
who is most notable for his work with haiku in English.
I
spotted this Solitary Sandpiper, the first I’ve ever seen in Pennsylvania, peering
into the Jordan Creek on a mid-May afternoon at Trexler Nature Preserve,
Schnecksville in this sepia image.
The
Solitary Sandpiper is a shorebird with a prominent eye ring. Small white spots
mark the back of this breeding adult.
The
Solitary Sandpiper, a wading bird, foliages along the edges of shallow
wetlands, muddy fields and small ponds.
It is solitary not just because the
sandpiper is alone, but because it’s part of its name. The solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) is a small
shorebird. The genus name Tringa
is the New Latin name given to the green sandpiper by Aldrovandus in 1599 based
on Ancient Greek trungas, a
thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle.
The specific solitaria is Latin
for “solitary” from solus, “alone.”
Solitary Sandpiper has two
subspecies, solitaria, which breeds and migrates east of the Rocky
Mountains, and cinnamomea, which breeds and migrates west of the
Rockies. The two subspecies winter in different parts of Central and South
America.
The Sandpiper is also the name of
the 1965 American drama film starring the wonderful Richard Burton &
Elizabeth Taylor and directed by Vincente Minnelli.
