{"id":35959,"date":"2016-02-21T05:47:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-21T12:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=35959"},"modified":"2025-06-12T11:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T16:13:54","slug":"piping-plover-on-a-shell-covered-beach-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/21\/piping-plover-on-a-shell-covered-beach-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Piping Plover On A Shell Covered Beach In Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PipingPiping Plover on a shell covered beach – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/em>, the second part of the name, melodus, is because of the bell-like calls<\/span><\/a> they make.<\/p>\n

The call above was made while the plover was on its nonbreeding grounds. Additional calls can be heard on the Macaulay Library site<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

I still think of them though along with all the smaller shorebirds I grew to know and love in Florida.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Piping Plover images plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

(Image taken in 2008)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,178],"tags":[4039,2304,1114,14752,173,4077,4246,4323,5841,275,1263,274,4926,373],"class_list":["post-35959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-piping-plovers","tag-beach","tag-calls","tag-charadrius-melodus","tag-coastal-island","tag-gulf-coast","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-piping-plover","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-shell","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-sounds","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-beach-mia-mcpherson-6381.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9lZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8803,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/04\/piping-plovers\/","url_meta":{"origin":35959,"position":0},"title":"Piping Plovers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Piping Plovers are small, sparrow sized shorebirds that are endangered and threatened in most of their range primarily due to human disturbance on their nesting grounds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Curious Piping Plover, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-9201.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4571,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/01\/piping-plover-down-dirty\/","url_meta":{"origin":35959,"position":1},"title":"Piping Plover – Down & Dirty","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Piping Plovers nest in shallow scrapes in sand, gravel, salt flats or dunes which leaves their nests vulnerable to predators and in danger of being accidentally stepped on.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging Piping Plover at the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. 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Sidelit and backlit images can be spectacular so I don't like passing up taking the chance that I might just get a great shot despite what some photographers think of as bad light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sidelit Piping Plover in a tidal lagoon at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/piping-plover-sidelit-mia-mcpherson-5440.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/piping-plover-sidelit-mia-mcpherson-5440.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/piping-plover-sidelit-mia-mcpherson-5440.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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photograph many different species of Plovers on Fort De Soto\u2019s beaches, tidal lagoons and spartina marshes.","rel":"","context":"In "Black-bellied Plovers"","block_context":{"text":"Black-bellied Plovers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/black-bellied-plovers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Semipalmated Plover in early morning light, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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