Mike in the Wild

The crashing wave's foaming water raced to cover the sand, forcing me to walk a zigzagging path to keep my feet dry.  Meanwhile sandpipers hunted with the rhythm of the ocean, scouring the draining sand in search of a meal left by the inundation.  Such a walk along the beach is one of my happiest memories, reminding me of childhood vacations along the Jersey Shore and future trips to exotic ports of call in the Caribbean. But I learned recently that you don't have to travel to a saltwater beach to see sandpipers; merely check out the closest lake, stream, or river near wherever you live.  Yes, I'm referring to even my own landlocked desert city of Phoenix.  I frequently write about the birds along my jogging route: the ruddy ducks on park lakes, nesting great-horn owls on the golf course, the Harris's hawks roosting on a lamp post.  Very recently it was on the Arizona Canal very close to my home where I spotted my first sandpipers in the area. The birds seem to ...