This is my first good photo of a White-rumped Sandpiper. Until today my only previous opportunity to photograph a White-rumped Sandpiper was a couple of years ago in heavy overcast light. I took a couple of photos then, but the poor lighting left me hoping for another opportunity in better lighting. That opportunity only came around today, a couple of years later, when I encountered 5 White-rumped Sandpipers running around on the mudflats (along with Horned Larks).
 
White-rumped Sandpipers aren't as common as other shorebird species and they tend to migrate through a bit later in the fall. The last couple of years heavy rains flooded out the mudflats before the White-rumped Sandpipers showed up, leaving no habitat for them and no opportunity to photograph them. This year, with dry weather that has left us with excellent shorebird habitat, I've been hoping to encounter White-rumped Sandpipers. I was thrilled when that came to be today.