Least tern courtship, Sandy Point State Reservation

Here's a series of images from a foggy morning photographing the courtship rituals of least terns on the beach at Sandy Point State Reservation.

He arrived ready to woo her with his fish, but their mating attempt appeared to be unsuccessful this time. They fought a little bit over the fish, but the female came away with it in the end.

Brooding piping plover chicks, Sandy Point State Reservation

While it’s fun to capture portraits or action shots of piping plover chicks running about on their own, I’m partial to photographs of the interactions with their parents. It was four years ago that I had my first opportunities to photograph these special moments on Plum Island. On only my second trip to see the chicks, I had the encounter that I only dreamed would actually come together – a clean shot in sunrise light with all four chicks crammed under a parent and a mess of 10 legs sticking out the bottom. It’s a simultaneously comical and incredible sight. I’m always hopeful I’ll have a similar encounter again, but it hasn’t yet materialized in the same way. I love any type of brooding shot where you can see the young ones tucked underneath, and in these, three little fluff balls are trying to squeeze in together.

Small piping plover chick on a big beach, Plum Island

There were multiple broods of piping plover chicks exploring the beach at Sandy Point State Reservation on this June morning. By the time I made it around the main beach and over toward in the inlet, the sun was already getting pretty high in the sky. For most other subjects, it would easily have been time to pack up the gear and head home. But when you're photographing something that's just an inch or two above the ground, the light sand almost works like a giant reflector -- helping to reduce the contrasting shadows from underneath and extending the time for photography.

Sense of scale, Piping plover at Sandy Point State Reservation

Sometimes, while watching these birds on the beach through a large telephoto lens, you forget the sense of scale. Especially when their curiosity brings them close and they fill your viewfinder. But then one passes by a tiny plant in the sand, just three leaves on a side, and you remember how small these chicks are -- and how amazing it is that they're responsible for feeding themselves!

Under the watchful eye of a parent, Sandy Point State Reservation

A young piping plover chick exploring the beach as its parent watches in the background. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but the out of focus parent seems a bit frazzled to me as it's calling out and running down the beach. I suppose that's to be expected when you're trying to keep watch over four small chicks, each heading in a different direction!

California quail on a fence post, Point Reyes National Seashore

A classic Point Reyes scene – a California quail perched on a fence post set against a backdrop of the coastal scrublands of the peninsula. I’ve spent plenty of hours scouring the park for photographic opportunities like this and have never tired of attempting them. I've collected many of images of quails perched on posts, and while they may look similar, each has its own story to tell.

Golden hour, Point Reyes National Seashore

Pastures bathed in golden light and the deep blue of the Pacific drew my attention, and my lens, away from the grazing tule elk across the road on this surprisingly clear summer evening in Point Reyes National Seashore.

Tule elk in summer wildflowers, Point Reyes National Seashore

On this July 2016 evening, a small herd of tule elk were grazing in the wildflowers along the road to Drake’s Beach.

The shadows were getting long as the sun dropped toward the horizon, and these females slipped in and out of the warm rays, as a male watched over the harem.

Avocets in the salt ponds, Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge

Another treat of my July 2016 trip was taking a morning to catch the sunrise at Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. This is a hotspot for large flocks of stilts and avocets, which are the birds that initially pulled me into photography over a decade ago.

I find avocets to be so elegant in how they look and move, and they’re a rarity to find back home in Massachusetts. The light wasn’t great by the time I made it around to the salt ponds, but I did appreciate that a few avocets wandered toward my position along the shoreline to offer a reflection in the quiescent water.

Rocky outcrop on Mt Tam

Following-up on my previous post, after being swallowed into the sea of gray at my first location, I drove out of the cloud and stopped at a rocky outcrop that was still above the fog. Despite being on opposite coasts, the texture and patterns in the stone reminded me of the glacier-scarred granite of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia (a place where I have unsuccessfully tried to photograph a similar vantage above the fog). The leading lines in stones like this capture my imagination, though I had trouble finding the right vantage to include both the stone and the distant rising fog.