Piping Plover

Of all the birds on this site, the piping plover is the one I feel I understand best, which is a weak claim given how little I actually know.

Perch posture is half the ID. A piping plover hunched, a piping plover alert, and a piping plover in the wind look like three different birds.

My images for this species are all made with available light. I don’t use fill flash in the field.

I’ve had good looks during fall migration on ridges and less consistent luck at coastal stopovers.

It’s a species I’d happily spend an entire morning watching without ever raising the camera.