Semipalmated Plover (non-breeding)

[Joseph Przybyla]

I captured this image early last Thursday morning at Ft. Desoto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida. This was one of my favorite things to do, find a nice area of clean beach and sit on the sand letting the birds come to me. Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 80-400mm F/4.5-5.6 VRII AF-S ED, camera and lens supported by a monopod
1/3200 F/5.6 Highlight Weighted Metering, EV 0 ISO 250 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 280mm
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2020 and Neat Image for noise reduction when needed
Cropped for composition and presentation

[David Roach]

I wanna be right there with you, so know what you mean. Just fantastic EXP, details and framing IMHO. In this case, I love that well defined shadow as well as the wavy reflection. TFS

ps
Those partially sunken toes...

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Beautiful colors. Everything looks good from me

[Daniel Cadieux]

Could this be a Piping Plover? Semipalmated should be more "contrasty", darker, and less "washed out" in its plumage.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Could this be a Piping Plover? Semipalmated should be more "contrasty", darker, and less "washed out" in its plumage.

Hi Dan, Piping Plover it is. You know more than I, normally I post a disclaimer asking for help with the identification. Thank you for helping, I find these shore birds difficult.

[John Mack]

I like the light and the framing. The water in the background not so much. The light was nice.

[Dorian Anderson]

I think this is an immature Semipalmated Plover; the back is too brown/dark for Piping. Nice view of the little guy, regardless. The sit-and-wait technique works well for shorebirds. I appreciate the effort to get as low as you are able . I'd like a bit more eye contact, but that's relatively minor.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Man these shorebirds eh! All the juveniles Semis I've photographed have all been darker than this. Could be one. Grrr, but fun too lol.