A Tough Little Piping Plover
Over the holiday weekend I visited Fort De Soto Park. So did about a million other people. Well, maybe not a million but it was surprisingly crowded. Even with the crowds, the bird photography was decent.
Weather was sunny with high clouds, hot in the low 90’s, and the tide was about half way between high and low tide and getting lower. It was also windy, so the wind surfers were out in full force. A few windsurfers were off the end of north beach, scaring off most of the birds.
It was still a couple hours from sunset, and while I contemplated calling it a day, I decided to stick around and make the most out of nothing. During that time the tide went out a little more, the wind settled down, and the wind surfers left the north beach area. I walked out to the point and initially didn’t see any birds. But scurrying around the water’s edge I found a few sanderlings and plovers. It was in that group that I found this little Piping Plover in breeding plumage.
Piping Plover with deformed feet. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 at ISO 1000, f/8, 1/4000 sec.
It didn’t take long to see that this piping plover had some issues with its feet. One foot is clubbed while the other foot is missing altogether. He (or she) hobbled around the mudflats, occasionally losing balance, but got along alright. This little fella certainly had no trouble finding worms.
Piping Plover finding a worm. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 at ISO 1000, f/8, 1/4000 sec.
Got a big one! Piping Plover slowly and skillfully pulled this worm out of the mud to keep it from snapping in two. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 at ISO 1000, f/8, 1/4000 sec.
And another one! Although physically disabled, this little piping plover seemed to have no difficulty finding the worms. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 at ISO 1000, f/8, 1/4000 sec.
In addition to this piping plover, I photographed two other types of Plovers on the same beach. Probably the most common plover at Fort De Soto is the Semipalmated Plover. Flocking together with Sanderlings, these little plovers can usually be found scurrying around at the water’s edge. The rarest is the Snowy Plover. In fact, I’ve only seen the Snowy a few times. I spotted just two Snowy’s and both kept their distance.
Semipalmated Plover. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 at ISO 1250, f/8, 1/4000 sec.
Snowy Plover standing on the mudflats. Nikon Z9 with tripod-mounted Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 at ISO 1000, f/8, 1/4000 sec.
There are five types of plovers in Florida: Semipalmated, Snowy, Wilson’s, Piping, and Black-bellied Plover. Many people get them confused, but they can be easily distinguished, especially when you look at the bill and leg colors. I actually saw all five types of plovers on the beach that visit but only photographed three.
Next time I’ll get all five.
