December is a great time to photograph birds in Florida. Facebook groups show that photographers and birders are having great success photographing wintering ducks in ponds and lakes; our woods and parks are teeming with owls, woodpeckers, hawks, and warblers; and even Painted Buntings are arriving at backyard feeders. So last Saturday, with my brand new Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens, I headed to…the beach. Yep, the beach. I actually started at MacDill Air Force Base in search of the American Avocet and Long-billed Curlew that I photographed the weekend before, but on this Saturday neither bird was present. After about an hour and a half of frantically searching and losing valuable morning light, I pulled the trigger and decided to drive over to DeSoto.

I arrived at DeSoto late, about 10:30. Tide was about as low as it gets. To make things worse, a red tide was affecting the area with a few dead fish washed up on the beach. It stunk, there was little wind, and the light was getting harsh. Not great conditions. And I didn’t see any photographers, a real rarity at DeSoto. I liked that. There was one group of birders at the end of the North Beach, observing a resident colony of skimmers, gulls, and terns with binos and spotting scopes. I stayed away and found a single Black-bellied Plover feeding in a small tidal pool.

Black-bellied Plover walking in a tidal lagoon at Fort DeSoto Park, Florida — **Black-bellied Plover**. Nikon Z9, Nikkor 800mm, f/6.3, 1/1600, ISO 250

After I made a few good shots of the Black-bellied Plover, and not wanting to overstay my welcome and stress the bird, I moved on. About a hundred yards away I found a group of about 100 plovers working over the wet sand. About half were Piping Plovers and the others were Semipalmated Plovers. I mounted the 800mm lens onto the Skimmer Ground Pod, laid down on the wet sand, and began shooting photos of the Plovers.

It didn’t take long for the first banded Piping Plover to appear. It was 97. I later reported the sighting to Virginia Tech who manages sightings with this color flag. Here is what they told me:

Thanks for this observation! 97 was banded on 5/29/2013 as a nesting adult female on Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island, NY! She is one of our oldest known birds, and is known to winter in that area of Florida, although she usually stops by North Carolina on her way south. Since she was banded nearly 10 years ago, her flag and band are understandably a bit faded, but I am so glad to hear she is still doing well!!

Band #97 on the legs of a Piping Plover at Fort DeSoto, Florida — **Piping Plover “97”**. Nikon Z9, Nikkor 800mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 160. When photographing banded birds, it’s helpful to focus on the bands and to photograph the bands from all angles.

Fourteen minutes later, another banded Piping Plover approached. This bird wore a single green band with “3KP” printed on it. I also reported it to the Virginia Tech Shorebird Program who provided this feedback:

Lovely photos!! 3KP was banded on 6/4/2022 as a nesting adult male on Fire Island National Seashore on Long Island, NY!

Just 2.5 minutes later, yet another banded Piping Plover appeared! This bird was wearing a lot of bling, sporting an orange flag, two yellow bands, a purple band, and a metal band. Because of the orange flag, I reported this bird to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Band Reporting system through the University of Minnesota. They provided the following information about this bird:

Good to hear from you again. Beautiful photos!

This is YVY - Y=yellow, V=violet (Evie). She hatched in 2021 at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, near Sleeping Bear Point. In 2022 she returned to Sleeping Bear Dunes to breed, but farther south along the shoreline at Platte Bay. She and her mate laid three eggs and fledged chicks from all of them. Mighty good for a first nesting attempt.

Fort Desoto/Outback Key is her winter home.

After taking my last shot of Evie, ANOTHER banded Piping Plover walked up to me. This bird wore no flags but sported 4 plastic bands. This bird was reported to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Fish and Wildlife. They responded with the following information:

Thanks for this report and the photos! This is Stumpy, a bird that was banded as a chick at the Barnegat Light Restoration Area here in NJ in 2021. She returned as a breeding female in 2022 and tried her luck at Holgate, part of EB Forsyther NWR and in the best plover habitat that NJ has to offer. Plovers had a very tough year in NJ in 2022 but Stumpy and her mate TJ managed to hatch and fledge all four of their chicks!

Here is a video about the restoration project:

https://youtu.be/h8Dd9oeXb-0

She wintered in the same location last year, so it sounds like she is all settled in for the coming months. Hoping she gets a nice rest, she deserves it!

And by the way, her name comes from the musician in Fall Out Boy, she does not have any physical issues.

Banded Piping Plover "Stumpy" at Fort Desoto, Florida — **Piping Plover “Stumpy”**. Nikon Z9, Nikkor 800mm, f/6.3, 1/2000, ISO 320.

So many banded Piping Plovers were in this group that I was starting to wonder if I was photographing the same bird over and over. Nope. Four different birds, one from Michigan, one from New Jersey, and two from New York - all on one small section of beach in Florida. How great is that?!

To learn how to report banded Piping Plovers, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service webpage.

Banded Piping Plovers

Wood Stork Photo Used in BirdWatching Magazine

My First Show