Piping Plover on a shell covered beachPiping Plover on a shell covered beach – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light

I’ve been busy working on moving shorebird images from my old galleries to my new gallery format and while reprocessing some of the images I have uncovered a few gems I had forgotten about, this Piping Plover image is one of those gems. At least for me it is.

I took this image of the Piping Plover on a shell covered beach right after the sun came up when the light had that sweet golden tone to it and since the light was low the shadow of the plover was probably four times the length of the bird. It was December and even in Florida it may have been chilly that morning but when I was photographing birds on the beach I rarely noticed it because I was so focused on my passion, the shorebirds.

Piping Plovers overwinter along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and I always felt fortunate when I saw and photographed them. The scientific name for Piping Plovers is Charadrius melodus, the second part of the name, melodus, is because of the bell-like calls they make.

The call above was made while the plover was on its nonbreeding grounds. Additional calls can be heard on the Macaulay Library site.

I don’t get to see Piping Plovers here in Utah, I would have to travel east and north to eastern Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and a small section of Kansas or all the way to New England to find them on their breeding grounds in the United States.

I still think of them though along with all the smaller shorebirds I grew to know and love in Florida.

Life is good.

Mia

(Image taken in 2008)