Red Knot (Calidris canutus)

Learning that Ron Thorn and Leonie Batkin had seen several knots in the impoundment behind the Radio Road dog park in Redwood Shores, I decided to try for them this morning at high tide. I met Ron and Leonie there and Ron kindly pointed out some distant knots in his spotting scope. I decided to spend more time trying for photos and came up with this one. They were not easy to pick out among the throngs of dowitchers and other shorebirds. This cosmopolitan species is uncommon in our area as a migrant and very local as a winter visitor. They continue to decline over much of their range and are currently classified as "near threatened." This is presumably the large pale race "C. c. roselaari" which breeds in Alaska.