Persistence

Every once in a while, a report shows up on the Rare Bird Alerts about some exotic or rarely seen bird right in your own back yard. Such was the case yesterday when reports of a Purple sandpiper right here in our neighborhood in Florida were posted. A friend from New York is visiting, and he had never photographed the bird. So, off we went in search of the sandpiper as well as Piping plovers which I had seen recently in the same spot. When we arrived at Smyrna Dunes, there were several listings of recent sightings, but no report of the sandpiper. Still, with our hopes raised, we ventured out to the south jetty of Ponce Inlet. We searched the sand dunes for the plovers with no luck. Much of the activity we witnessed last week at this same location had abated. There were plenty of Brown pelicans, sanderlings, and Ruddy turnstones working the surf, but darn if we could find the plovers or the target bird.....the Purple sandpiper. We searched the jetty with our binoculars and photographed the turnstones and a lone Royal tern to while away time. I finally turned to my friend and suggested we head on back. At that point, he excitedly told me he had a "different" bird in view. Not far off at all, climbing along the boulders of the jetty was our bird. The sandpiper was indeed here as promised. He had obviously been here all along, but was elluding our sight until now. A little persistence goes a long way.