{"id":40844,"date":"2016-08-09T05:21:08","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T11:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=40844"},"modified":"2025-07-08T15:38:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T20:38:01","slug":"black-bellied-plover-on-a-foggy-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/09\/black-bellied-plover-on-a-foggy-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-bellied Plover On A Foggy Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FoggyFoggy Black-bellied Plover – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/1500, ISO 640, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago after seeing thousands of Long-billed Dowitchers at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I began to think about shorebirds migrating from their breeding grounds to their wintering grounds.<\/p>\n

Many of the shorebirds are such small birds yet they travel such a long way for a short period of time to breed. Shorebirds sparked my love of bird photography and they still remain a favorite subject to this day.<\/p>\n

When I lived in Florida I was able to see some of the shorebirds that breed in the northern latitudes because they would over winter on the Gulf Coast or they stopped there to rest up and refuel before heading further south. Among those shorebirds were Black-bellied Plovers, our largest plover in North America.<\/p>\n

One a late summer day at Fort De Soto I was able to photograph this Black-bellied Plover on a foggy morning up close on the beach.<\/p>\n

The fog muffled all the sounds except the gentle waves on the Gulf and briefly it felt like the plover and I had the north beach all to ourselves.<\/p>\n

I’m glad the shorebirds have begun their migration through Utah and hope that some time this fall I’ll be able to be as close to one of them as I was this Black-bellied Plover.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Black-bellied Plover photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One a fall day at Fort De Soto I was able to photograph this Black-bellied Plover on a foggy morning up close on the beach. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":150093,"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":[27,87,25,704,2000],"tags":[4004,4039,4367,14752,4175,3984,173,530,4246,275,4162,4017,274,2315,3537],"class_list":["post-40844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-black-bellied-plovers","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","tag-adult","tag-beach","tag-black-bellied-plover","tag-coastal-island","tag-fog","tag-foggy","tag-gulf-coast","tag-migration","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-plovers","tag-pluvialis-squatarola","tag-sand","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-summer-3","tag-wintering-grounds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-fog-mia-mcpherson-1269.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-aCM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1504,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/30\/black-bellied-plover\/","url_meta":{"origin":40844,"position":0},"title":"Black-bellied Plover","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I love watching Black-bellied Plovers hunting. They take a few steps, stop, look and listen, then do it all over again.","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":"Black-bellied Plover on the hunt on exposed mudflats at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mia-mcpherson-florida-3124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mia-mcpherson-florida-3124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mia-mcpherson-florida-3124.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mia-mcpherson-florida-3124.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6127,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/17\/black-bellied-plovers-in-breeding-and-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":40844,"position":1},"title":"Black-bellied Plovers in Breeding and Nonbreeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Black-bellied Plovers in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can look like two different plover species but they aren't.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffy Black-bellied Plover in breeding plumage on the beach at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-bellied-plover-breeding-mia-mcpherson-4095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-bellied-plover-breeding-mia-mcpherson-4095.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-bellied-plover-breeding-mia-mcpherson-4095.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/black-bellied-plover-breeding-mia-mcpherson-4095.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/16\/shorebirds-of-fort-desoto-the-plovers\/","url_meta":{"origin":40844,"position":2},"title":"Shorebirds of Fort DeSoto – The Plovers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Throughout the year you can see and 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-fort-desoto-5817.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19256,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/01\/a-few-quiet-moments-with-a-black-bellied-plover-at-low-tide\/","url_meta":{"origin":40844,"position":3},"title":"A Few Quiet Moments With A Black-bellied Plover At Low Tide","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Shorebirds. They were what sparked my passion for bird photography. They were what drew me back to the Gulf Coast of Florida as much as I could be there.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-bellied Plover at low tide in the mudflats, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mudflats-mia-mcpherson-1101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mudflats-mia-mcpherson-1101.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-mudflats-mia-mcpherson-1101.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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