The Best Shorebird
While our trip to Thailand over the new year was definitely not a birding trip, I did nonetheless have a few target birds; obviously I'm not going to go to a new country full of interesting wildlife without trying to get out at least a little bit. Of these, there was exactly one that was a can't-miss target. And by "can't miss", I mean "I hope I don't dip on it because if I do I'll have to miss my flight out of the country so I can try for it again" levels of can't miss. It's probably easy to tell from the cover photo of course what this is: Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Spoon-billed Sandpipers have worked their way to the very top of many birders' "most wanted" lists (including mine) for several reasons. First of all, they're just fantastic: tiny, adorable peeps (small Calidris sandpipers) that have somehow developed a ridiculous, utensil-shaped bill that it uses to strain its food out of the water, similar to the much-larg...