{"id":4687,"date":"2012-03-28T05:22:46","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T11:22:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4687"},"modified":"2025-07-05T11:48:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T16:48:35","slug":"semipalmated-plover-on-mudflats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/28\/semipalmated-plover-on-mudflats\/","title":{"rendered":"Semipalmated Plover On Mudflats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SandbarSandbar Semipalmated Plover – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/750, ISO 160, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Semipalmated Plovers are small shorebirds that breed in the Arctic or sub-Arctic tundra. During migration they prefer mudflats, saltwater marshes, tidal areas, lake edges and flooded fields.<\/p>\n

In winter they prefer coastal habitats which is where I photographed this Semipalmated Plover on the mudflats of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida.<\/p>\n

They forage in typical plover style, run pause, pluck, run pause, pluck. They eat small aquatic mollusks, crustaceans, beetles, flies and spiders.<\/p>\n

Semipalmated Plovers use the sensitive soles of their\u00a0feet to locate prey.<\/p>\n

When I photographed Semipalmated Plovers in Florida I found that if I got down to their level and laid still they would approach me very closely.\u00a0That takes patience but the effort is well worth it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

When I photographed Semipalmated Plovers in Florida I found that if I got down to their level and laid still they would approach me very closely. That takes patience but the effort is well worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149794,"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":[27,25,704,2000,268],"tags":[4261,173,4036,4273,5841,275,3991,274,2315,4140],"class_list":["post-4687","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-semipalmated-plovers","tag-charadrius-semipalmatus","tag-gulf-coast","tag-low-angle","tag-mudflats","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-semipalmated-plover","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-summer-3","tag-tidal-lagoon"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-8677.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1dB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1106,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/10\/16\/shorebirds-of-fort-desoto-the-plovers\/","url_meta":{"origin":4687,"position":0},"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, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Semipalmated Plover with marine worm, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/semipalmated-plover-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/semipalmated-plover-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/semipalmated-plover-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/semipalmated-plover-feeding-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/semipalmated-plover-head-turn-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/semipalmated-plover-head-turn-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/semipalmated-plover-head-turn-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/semipalmated-plover-head-turn-mia-mcpherson-0977.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11517,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/02\/gotta-love-those-shorebirds-semipalmated-plover\/","url_meta":{"origin":4687,"position":3},"title":"Gotta Love Those Shorebirds – Semipalmated Plover","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Semipalmated Plover as it foraged along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida in 2008 while I laid flat on the wet sand getting soaked as the waves pushed onto the shore around the sand bar in the distance.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fort De Soto Semipalmated Plover, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-fort-desoto-florida-mia-mcpherson-7895.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-fort-desoto-florida-mia-mcpherson-7895.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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