Kip’s Comments - August 11, 2026

A Challenging ID and One of Three Forms Plant

While photographing a monarch butterfly sampling one swamp milkweed blossom after another I noticed movement about 30-yards away. I knew I was seeing a shorebird, but which one?

Sandpipers - shorebirds - have never been easy for me to identify down to the individual species level. For some their differences are subtle. And, we don’t easily see them most of the warm weather months. Toss in the detail of a species I have only seen one other time and I know why I did not promptly recognize this bird.

Injured Stilt Sandpiper - Image 1133011

After capturing the injured bird (drooping right wing) and photographing it from many angles, all reference material is telling me I found and was holding a stilt sandpiper. Since this bird has a wing injury, it will be going to Terese (Black Hawk Wildlife Rehabilitation Project) for evaluation and care. I am concerned about the location of the injury. It may be that euthanasia is the most humane treatment. I will let the trained folks decide that. I saved it from a long, hazardous, vulnerable existence in the wild.

Injured Stilt Sandpiper - Image 1133000

Now for something else…

For those not familiar, poison ivy grows in three forms - a ground plant, a vine, and a shrub. This morning I saw poison ivy in the vine form that was lit with the background in shadows. (Notice the “thumb” on the leaf.) I thought it made attractive composition for an unwanted plant.

Poison Ivy - Image 1132277