{"id":4931,"date":"2012-05-08T03:55:55","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T09:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4931"},"modified":"2025-07-05T17:06:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T22:06:01","slug":"semipalmated-plover-how-to-get-sandy-pants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/05\/08\/semipalmated-plover-how-to-get-sandy-pants\/","title":{"rendered":"Semipalmated Plover – How to get Sandy Pants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting “Down & Dirty” is a way of being at eye level with your subject which brings the viewer into the bird’s world and it can make the image feel more intimate too. Achieving those low angle perspectives can be quite messy and\/or uncomfortable depending on the habitat.<\/p>\n

\"FluffedFluffed up Semipalmated Plover – Nikon D200, handheld, f7.1, 1\/750, ISO 250, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The day I took this Semipalmated Plover image I had spotted several different species of shorebirds resting on the sand of Fort De Soto’s north beach. It was cool that morning and many of the birds had fluffed up their feathers to conserve heat.<\/p>\n

I didn’t want to disturb the resting birds so I knew that my approach would have to be very slow and that I had to get low to the ground. I was about 40 feet from the birds when I dropped down on my belly and began to leisurely move forward on the sugar sand using my elbows\u00a0 and legs to push & pull myself in the direction of the birds all the while being careful not to get the sand on my lens or camera. With my backpack on my back, and the lens sticking way out in the front I may have looked like a weird hunch-backed lizard or a very skinny, long-nosed Loggerhead Turtle.<\/p>\n

The birds didn’t care so neither did I.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It probably took me over 20 minutes sand crawling to get close enough to the birds to fill the frame without causing them alarm and with each push forward in the dry sand some of it would creep into the waist band of my pants plus\u00a0the front pockets would fill up too. After I was through photographing the shorebirds I put myself into reverse sand crawling which pushed sand up into my pant legs. By the time I felt like I could stand back up without flushing the birds\u00a0 I’d pushed through a lot of sand.<\/p>\n

What happens when you stand back up after sand has crept into your pants?<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, know that you have gotten a free dermabrasion session and\u00a0your skin will feel baby soft. Second, grab that extra set of clothes you brought (I hope you know to bring them), head to the shower and rinse off before putting on those clean clothes or your ride home in those sandy pants will feel like your clothes are lined with emery boards!<\/p>\n

Oh, and when you do stand up and shake off the sand you kind of feel like\u00a0Pigpen in the Charlie Brown cartoons, remember the clouds of dust that appeared every time he moved? Maybe I am showing my age?<\/p>\n

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

Mia aka<\/em> Sandy Pants<\/p>\n

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

Getting “Down & Dirty” is a way of being at eye level with your subject which brings the viewer into the bird’s world and it can make the image feel more intimate too. Achieving those low angle perspectives can be quite messy and\/or uncomfortable depending on the habitat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":149813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,268],"tags":[970,4261,14752,1476,4620,173,4036,5841,275,3991,274],"class_list":["post-4931","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-autumn","tag-charadrius-semipalmatus","tag-coastal-island","tag-down-and-dirty","tag-fall","tag-gulf-coast","tag-low-angle","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-semipalmated-plover","tag-shorebirds-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-fluffed-mia-mcpherson-1583.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1hx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5881,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/08\/10\/layers-of-blue-semipalmated-plover\/","url_meta":{"origin":4931,"position":0},"title":"Layers of Blue – Semipalmated Plover","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I like the ribbons of different shades of blue in this image and even though the Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) is small in the frame it stands out well from its habitat.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Semipalmated Plover on the Gulf coast, 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-8683.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-8683.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-8683.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-8683.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4687,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/28\/semipalmated-plover-on-mudflats\/","url_meta":{"origin":4931,"position":1},"title":"Semipalmated Plover On Mudflats","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sandbar Semipalmated Plover, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-8677.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-florida-mia-mcpherson-8677.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-8677.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-florida-mia-mcpherson-8677.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-beach-pano-7897.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-beach-pano-7897.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/semipalmated-plover-mia-mcpherson-beach-pano-7897.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-beach-pano-7897.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50780,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/28\/foraging-semipalmated-plover-in-florida\/","url_meta":{"origin":4931,"position":3},"title":"Foraging Semipalmated Plover in Florida","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Among my favorite plovers to photograph when I lived in Florida were Semipalmated Plovers, I only saw them during their nonbreeding season where they spent time along the Gulf coast.","rel":"","context":"In "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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3787,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/12\/04\/piping-plover-and-semipalmated-plover-sunday-shorebirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":4931,"position":4},"title":"Piping Plover and Semipalmated Plover – Sunday Shorebirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"When I am out in the field I take a large amount of photos and there are times I don't get around to processing them until much later, these are two such images taken at Fort DeSoto, Florida in 2008.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low angle Piping Plover at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-mia-mcpherson-1485.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-mia-mcpherson-1485.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-mia-mcpherson-1485.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/piping-plover-mia-mcpherson-1485.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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