{"id":4571,"date":"2012-03-01T06:15:29","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T13:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4571"},"modified":"2024-12-23T10:10:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T16:10:07","slug":"piping-plover-down-dirty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/01\/piping-plover-down-dirty\/","title":{"rendered":"Piping Plover – Down & Dirty"},"content":{"rendered":"

These Piping Plover images were taken at Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida.<\/p>\n

\"ForagingForaging Piping Plover – Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/2000, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Piping Plovers are small, pale\u00a0shorebirds, they are about 7 1\/4 inches in length with a wingspan of 19 inches. They can live up to 11 years. Their status is vulnerable throughout much of their range. There are two subspecies, one that is found along the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines and the other is an inland species.<\/p>\n

When photographing shorebirds I like to get down<\/em> to their level which usually means I am getting dirty<\/em>. I will lay on the sand, mud, grass or get as low as I can in the water to get a low angle perspective. It can bring the viewer into the bird’s world but as a bird photographer I enjoy sharing that space with them too\u00a0because it gives me a sense of intimacy with my subject.<\/p>\n

\"PipingPiping Plover and reflection- Nikon D200, handheld, f5.6, 1\/2000, ISO 320, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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. The chicks are precocial and begin to run around not long after being born. They look like little tan cotton balls on stick legs. The feed on small mollusks, insects and marine worms in typical plover fashion, run, pause and pluck.<\/p>\n

When I photographed this Piping Plover<\/span><\/a> I was flat on my belly where the shallow waves of water pushed onto the sand. I have found that if I lay still enough the birds will approach me while I am “down & dirty”.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138160,"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":[4004,4039,4021,1114,5132,4040,4077,4323,5841,275,13707,274,3996],"class_list":["post-4571","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-adult","tag-beach","tag-bird-photography","tag-charadrius-melodus","tag-coastal","tag-feeding","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-piping-plover","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-shells","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/piping-plover-summer-feeding-mia-mcpherson-9726.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1bJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8803,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/07\/04\/piping-plovers\/","url_meta":{"origin":4571,"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, 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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, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Piping Plover on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/piping-plover-florida-gulf-mia-mcpherson-9730.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/piping-plover-florida-gulf-mia-mcpherson-9730.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/piping-plover-florida-gulf-mia-mcpherson-9730.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/piping-plover-florida-gulf-mia-mcpherson-9730.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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shorebirds in them starting with Black-bellied Plovers.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-bellied Plover on a grassy dune 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-habitat-mia-mcpherson-2585.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-habitat-mia-mcpherson-2585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/black-bellied-plover-habitat-mia-mcpherson-2585.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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