Wilson's Plover in dried Sea Purslane Adult Wilson’s Plover (Charadrius wilsonia) in dried Sea Purslane – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

This Friday’s Photo is that of a Wilson’s Plover, a species I very much enjoyed photographing while I lived in Florida. Wilson’s Plovers are strictly coastal shorebirds so here in Utah I don’t get to see them. They are found from the mid-Atlantic states down to Florida, Cuba and all along the Gulf shorelines. A subspecies; Charadrius wilsonia beldingi, is found on the Mexican Pacific coast and the Gulf of California.

Wilson’s Plovers nest in simple scrapes that can be found on the sandy shorelines and in sand dunes. This adult did have several chicks at the time I photographed it and it had been running along trying to keep up with the young birds when it took a short break on this sand dune amongst some dried Sea Purslane. The chicks appeared to have a mind of their own and were running willy-nilly through the dunes. Must be exhausting for the adults to keep up with with their young. I couldn’t help but laugh at the actions of the seemingly strong-willed but very curious chicks.

Mia

* I’m stuck at home today waiting for the delivery of a replacement for my Jobu Black Widow Gimbal HD head. I had trouble with the older version when my locking pin broke off a few weeks ago. Jobu Design has been great about accepting the old Gimbal head back and replacing it with the newer version for a small upgrade fee. Although I rarely use a tripod, when I need it I really need it! My Nikkor 200-400mm VR f/4 gets a bit heavy to handhold for me so I can’t wait to get this new Gimbal set up.