23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Wildlife
Coral Dusk: The Sandpiper and the Pacific

Walking down to Santa Monica Beach is a New Year's Day ritual and on January 1st, the tide was wonderfully low. This little sandpiper seemed more pensive than the other birds I photographed that evening. Maybe he knew something about the year to come.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 01.2025
Date Uploaded: 11.2025
Photo Location: SANTA MONICA, California, United States of America
Copyright: © Diana Clevenger-Stephens