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South Surrey photographer captures tiny shorebirds during stop on migration route

Two-ounce Dunlins rest from migrating at Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach
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It was a quiet Monday morning at Blackie Spit in Crescent Beach when John Cullen noticed something new to photograph.

The South Surrey resident, an avid photographer, had his camera with him when he noticed a flock of Dunlins, tiny, two-ounce shorebirds, had arrived to rest on their migration route.

“It’s quite a thing to see! They obviously just got here… I got quite close to them very quietly – they’re migrating through, so I don’t think they’re too used to humans or contact with humans,” he said.

Located on the Pacific Flyway – a north-south migratory bird route that stretches 6,430 kilometres from Alaska to Patagonia in South Americam– Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit are popular for bird-watchers and naturalists at this time of year.

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“I had them all to myself – I watched them for about 45 minutes,” Cullen said.

“They don’t stay around long – usually they’re here for only a day or so. With all the things going on in the world these days, it’s nice to know we can still have moments like this.”


@Canucklehedd
tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com

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Tricia Weel

About the Author: Tricia Weel

I’m a lifelong writer, and worked as a journalist in community newspapers for more than a decade, from White Rock to Parksville and Qualicum Beach, to Abbotsford and Surrey, from 2001-2012
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