Fall Migrations of Grassland Sandpipers

     We mostly know sandpipers as those drab, little birds that flock together on mud flats and beaches during May and again late in summer.  Most of those sandpipers nest on the treeless Arctic tundra and winter in Central and South America.  But two kinds of unusual sandpipers, upland and buff-breasted sandpipers, nest and winter in extensive grasslands.  And when migrating south to avoid the northern winter, they even stop to rest and feed on invertebrates in grassland habitats.
     Here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, we only see these kinds of sandpipers during their autumn migrations south to the Pampas grasslands of lower South America.  Uplanders come through here uncommonly in August and buff-breasts are here rarely in September.  But while they are here, they forage for invertebrates in extensive grass, such as at airports and sod farms, and recently harvested hay fields where the vegetation is still short.   However, their plumage allows them to blend into those habitats so well, they are difficult to spot.  One usually needs binoculars.  
     Their shared grassland habitat has shaped these sandpiper species to be what they are, similar in appearance.  Uppies and buff-breasts are much alike in light-brown feathering, streaked with darker markings that camouflages them.  They both have small, dainty heads, and long necks that periscope their eyes to see over the grass.  But uplands seem twice the size of buff-breasts.
     Upland sandpipers nest in grass habitats of Alaska, the Canadian and American prairies and the northern tier states of the eastern United States.  Buff-breasts rear offspring on the Arctic tundra where there are no trees or shrubbery.  
     Every August, I cruise along country roads in Lancaster County and look at recently cut hay fields to spot upland sandpipers.  I usually see a few, one or two here or one or two there.  Sometimes they gather in groups of four to eight in a field for a few days, then they are gone, migrating to southern South America.           
     Buff-breasted sandpipers come through here for the most part in early September, but they are tough to spot, although I try to see them once in a while.  Not only do they blend into their surroundings to the point of being invisible until they move, they are small, rare here and usually scattered among many fields in this farmland county.  And most buff-breasts migrate through the central part of Canada and the United States.  It's a red-letter day for me when I spot a buff-breast or two in local fields.    
     These two grassland sandpipers are ambassadors from far-away places that pass through Lancaster County and other places in North America.  They are uniquely lovely birds, if spotted.  Well worth the effort to find them.