Saturday, December 11, 2010

Semipalmated plover

Semipalmated plover

Before I saw the huge flock of sandpipers flowing along the beach at Limantour Spit in Point Reyes National Seashore, I had a wonderful encounter with 15-20 semipalmated plovers on that same stretch of beach. It was a great time of day for shorebird photography -- mid-morning with a rising tide. All of the shorebirds were more interested in napping and preening than running around and feeding. They likely spent the early hours feeding on the estuarine mudflats during low tide, and then were ready to rest and digest on the beach.

Tucked in

4 comments:

  1. Wow, very nice image. I have never taken an image of this bird other than when he his walking fast on a beach....he seem's so relaxed on your image. ;)

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  2. Thanks, Dominic! This bird was definitely relaxed. In fact, the whole flock was primarily interested in resting. I spent a while just laying in the sand with them, hoping for one to do something more interesting than just sitting there, but even preening seemed like too much effort!

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  3. Beautiful shots. Boom & Gary of The Vermilon River.

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  4. Thanks, Gary! I always enjoy the chance to photograph these tiny plovers!

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