Purple Sandpiper and Dunlin

On 8 December 2009 at Presqu'ile Provincial Park, Ontario, Bruce Falls and I easily waded across from Owen Point to Gull Island. The water levels on Lake Ontario are low now. Scroll down for three photos.

Purple Sandpiper in first basic (winter) plumage showing prehensile tip to bill. Shorebirds have a flexible tip to the bill so they can probe in the mud and grasp prey. Gull Island, Presqu'ile, Ontario, 8 December 2009.

Same Purple Sandpiper in first basic (winter) plumage with retained white tipped juvenal wing coverts and tertials. All Purple Sandpipers that Ron Pittaway and I have aged in fall in southern Ontario have been in first basic plumage. Why aren't we seeing adults? Gull Island, Presqu'ile, Ontario, 8 December 2009.

Two Dunlin in first basic (winter) plumage, told by a few scattered bright retained juvenal feathers in the upperparts and white fringed juvenal wing coverts. The injured bird on the right has been around for several weeks. Most Dunlin Ron Pittaway and I have aged in fall in southern Ontario have been in first basic plumage. Do adults have a different migration route? Gull Island, Presqu'ile, Ontario, 8 December 2009.