This morning was a cool one as I left the house just after 6:00 to go to the park. My muscles were a little sore from crawling on my belly yesterday, but it wasn’t bad. I walked down to Back beach on my way to the park to check to see if there were any shorebirds down there. At first I didn’t see any but then a large mixed flock of Black turnstones and other shorebirds flew in and landed, following them a smaller flock of plovers and sandpipers landed further down the beach. I excitedly walked down the beach towards them, as I got closer to them I went and got on the road that ran along the beach. I walked down the road a ways then I sat down and watched them. There were 5 Black-bellied plovers, half a dozen Short-billed dowitchers, a handful of Least sandpipers and a Western sandpiper. It was interesting to watch out the plovers and the sandpipers moved. The plovers walked around more upright and would take a few steps stop look around take a few more steps stop look around and repeat. Where as the sandpipers walked around more hunched over and closer to the ground.
I watched the shorebirds for a bit then I got up and walked down the road, cut around in front of the trailer court. I carefully made my way across the river so that I didn’t slip and fall then I walked down the park beach. I moved quickly because I only had an hour before I wanted to be home, but I also tried to move carefully so that I would avoid flushing very many birds. As I walked down the beach I smelled the sent of wet seaweed. I walked down the beach by the water then I walked up along the top of the beach. As I was walking along the top of the beach I noticed a raptor flying over, so I quickly got my camera out and took photos of it. AS I walked I looked at my photos and decided that it was a Northern harrier which I have seen only a handful of times in Sitka. I walked back through the park on the trail, listening to the Ruby-crowned kinglets singing. I stopped and ate a Wild cucumber it tasted like a very watery cucumber.
I waded back across the river and cut around the front of the trailer court. On my way around the trailer court I slipped on a rock and started to fall, I put my hand to catch myself and had it land on a rock covered in barnacles, boy did it hurt. I looked at my hand saw that it wasn’t cut then kept walking. I walked back to Back beach then home. 
Black-bellied plover
