Friday, June 28, 2019

Co-parenting piping plover chicks, Sandy Point State Reservation

Male piping plover with chick at Sandy Point State Reservation, Massachusetts

According to the field guides, it can be a little challenging to identify the sex of Atlantic Coast piping plovers. The notable difference is that the black brow bar and collar are more "bold" in the males. While I have generally not tried to distinguish this in my plover photography before, I had a unique opportunity to differentiate the mother and father of a parenting pair on a recent trip to Sandy Point State Reservation. This piping plover couple was caring for a brood of four chicks, and both parents were participating the family activities. It was interesting to see them actively trade off responsibilities between the male and female. This offered the chance to directly compare images of the two birds caring for the chicks. And in fact, one did have a much bolder mark between its brows, nearly touching the eyes (the male, pictured above), while the female's was more subtle (pictured below). Wishing the best of luck to these plover parents!

Female piping plover brooding two chicks on Plum Island, Massachusetts


Thursday, June 27, 2019

Willets in a tree, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

Two willets perched in a tree in Massachusetts

While driving the road down the island in Parker River NWR, I'm always scanning for birds, hoping to find something interesting. The flight of two shorebirds caught my eye and I pulled over onto the shoulder to watch them pass. I was amazed to see them both land in a pine tree! I absolutely love shorebirds, and I've spent countless hours watching them -- but this was a totally new behavior to me. What a fun experience to see them perched on a tree branch, as if they were song birds. I'm not sure if a predator spooked them or what exactly was happening, and after maybe 10 minutes or so, they flew off again. A delightfully unexpected encounter for sure!


Monday, June 24, 2019

Room for one more? Piping plover chicks on Plum Island

Piping plover father with chicks brooding at Plum Island, Massachusetts

This piping plover father was doing his best to keep his chicks safe and warm as they explored the tidal flats. In the photo above, two of his four chicks are nestled in to brood, and the third chick has just arrived. It also wanted to join-in, and tried to figure out how to get under those warm feathers as well.

Piping plover chick attempting to brood in Massachusetts

It seemed to find a comfortable spot alongside its siblings by jamming itself under the wing too.

Piping plover chick joins two siblings under the parents wing

But then things got even more complicated when the fourth chick arrived.

Four piping plover chicks looking to brood under their father

It too wanted to warm up under the father plover, but there was limited space available for everyone.

Wildlife Photography by Pat Ulrich: Plovers &emdash; Piping plover parent with chick

The father seems to be going along with things here...

Four piping plover chicks brooding under father on Plum Island, Massachusetts

.... but I can't help but interpret this look as the piping plover version of "You've got to be kidding me!"

Piping plover father has too many chicks trying to brood

The dad seemed to sense this was getting a bit out of control and hopped off of his four chicks.

Male piping plover jumps off of four brooding chicks

Once free, he then ran off to the warmer dry sand further up the beach and called his chicks to follow and try again.

Piping plover parent with four chicks

Shared with Wild Bird Wendesday.



Sunday, June 23, 2019

Piping plover chick ready to brood, Sandy Point State Reservation

Piping plover brooding chicks at sunrise on Plum Island, Massachusetts

My successful trips to Plum Island this year so far have been under overcast skies. While I enjoy the flexibility that this even light allows for wildlife photography, there is something special about moments that occur in the warm glow of the rising sun. Here are two images of a young chick looking for the right spot to brood under it's parent from a clear morning back in 2015. In the top frame, you can see the tiny legs of its siblings already taking up prime locations underwing.

Piping

Friday, June 21, 2019

Piping plover father and chick, Sandy Point State Reservation

Piping plover father with chick at Sandy Point State Reservation in Massachusetts

It’s such a treat to see the interaction of a young animal and its parent. For piping plovers, who are responsible for feeding themselves from birth, a critical role of the parent is protection and shelter from the elements through brooding. Before these images were taken, this young chick was nestled under the feathers of its father. I would generally observe the chicks to stretch and run off to scour the beach almost immediately after pulling out from below the warm embrace. This particular chick seemed to want some additional reassurance this time though, snuggling up to its dad for quite a while before heading off again on its own.

Piping plover chick snuggling its father in Massachusetts

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Inquisitive piping plover, Sandy Point State Reservation

Piping Plover standing in wet sand on Plum Island

Summer trips to Sandy Point State Reservation always have the chance for piping plover chicks in the nesting colony there. I suspected that I was going to be a little too early for chicks when I took this trip on this first weekend in June, but it’s still fun to see the adults running around the beach. As I was attempting to work my way into a good position for the lone semipalmated sandpiper I encountered, this overly curious piping plover came into very close range to check out the photographer lying in the sand. It’s staccato stop-start running brought it into full-frame portrait realm, before coming so close that I hand to pull back from my telephoto since it was well-within the minimum focusing distance. Curious shorebirds are the best!

Close-up photograph of a piping plover in Massachusetts

Monday, June 17, 2019

Least tern rival, Sandy Point State Reservation

Least tern courtship display with a small fish

This series of photos shows one of the more interesting least tern interactions I observed earlier this month at Sandy Point State Reservation on Plum Island. The female was sitting in the wrack line well outside of the temporary fence erected around the main breeding colony. I approached carefully and took up a spot lying in the sand to observe her in the hopes that a male would bring in a fish to share. It didn’t take long for one to arrive. He showed off his prize, but she really didn’t seem interested in taking it from him. He persisted in offering the fish for a while, from multiple angles, and I laughed this off as another rejection of a male’s advances (a common theme on the beach that morning).

Eventually, she settled in to rest, and rather than flying off to find a different female to impress, he scarfed down the fish and took up a position nearby. At this point, I started to suspect that perhaps they were already a pair, and she was just full of fish that morning. From my position in the sand, I enjoyed watching her do a little preening before tucking in her beak and closing her eyes.

Least tern pair sleeping on the beach

Before long, another male noisily arrived to offer his catch to her, and the first male quickly jumped to the occasion to defend his (apparent) relationship.

A male least tern lands with a fish to offer to a female

There was rapid-fire action of vocalizations and posturing, with the female literally in the middle of it all.

Two male least terns fight over a female at Sandy Point State Reservation in Massachusetts

During a brief standoff, it wasn't clear to me which way this fight would go.

Two male least terns stare eachother down in a fight over a female

Without any physical interaction, the couple thwarted the interloper, who flew off to show his fish to someone else, and they both settled back in. I quietly wished the tern couple luck, and carefully crawled away in the sand before wandering further up the beach.

A least tern flies away after unsuccessfully offering a fish to a female

Saturday, June 15, 2019

Semipalmated sandpiper on the tidal flats, Sandy Point State Reservation

Semipalmated sandpiper on the tidal flats, Plum Island, Massachusetts

A very low morning tide opened up a huge swatch of tidal flats at Sandy Point State Reservation. The small mounds and dark sand in this region of the beach made for an interesting setting for the lone semipalmated sandpiper I encountered. In my trip preparations the night before, the eBird reports from the previous few days had sightings of flocks with 150+ semipalmated sandpipers and dunlin. Given the time of year, there was a great chance that they’d be showing some of their summer colors as well. While I had hoped that the low tide would keep the flocks foraging on the flats around the southern edge of the island, as it turned out, they happened to be further up the estuary while I was in the park (which I observed on a quick stop at the Bill Forward Bird Blind on my drive out). It’s hard to pass up a chance to spend time with a sandpiper in non-basic plumage, and this individual gave me a couple of fleeting opportunities as it traversed the flats.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Least tern courtship at Sandy Point State Reservation

Least tern courtship display at Sandy Point State Reservation, Massachusetts

Dreary fog and low visibility did not deter the courtship rituals of a large flock of least terns at Sandy Point State Reservation earlier this month. The start of breeding season is such an exciting time of year on the southern tip of Plum Island, regardless of the weather. While I saw a handful of piping plovers running over the exposed tidal flats, the highlight of this trip was definitely having so many opportunities to enjoy the fish-offering antics of least terns. While I saw a couple of successful transfers between terns, the majority of the interactions I witnessed involved an excited male flashing its catch to an otherwise uninterested female. It was rather comical to watch the females repeatedly turn away as the male desperately tried to impress. Eventually, he would give up and fly off to try to impress someone else.