Least Sandpipers

We found twelve of these least sandpipers yesterday morning at Falls of the Ohio State Park, directly across the River from Louisville in Jeffersonville, Indiana. In the birding world, little sandpipers like this are called “peeps,” for obvious reasons. This group is passing through on their southerly migration. Wading birds like this migrate north through Louisville in late April and early May, stay just long enough for their chicks to fledge, then head south again. As the name suggests, the least sandpiper is the smallest of the sandpipers. This was as close as I had ever been to one, and they are tiny - barely bigger than a sparrow!

Relax with one minute of video of these little guys and gals peacefully preening themselves with the sounds of the rushing water in the background.