Piping Plover

©Nick Kontonicolas

Published: December 26, 2004

Nick Kontonicolas of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, captured this eye-level shot of a young Piping Plover foraging at the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge in Cape May, New Jersey.

Nick says a few summers ago, he noticed a pair of plovers (Charadrius melodus) feeding on the beach. "They were at some distance but I decided to sit down and hope that they would get closer. Not only did they come close, but better yet, their three chicks came within a few feet of me. After feeding for 10 to 15 minutes, they moved on, but not before they gave me one of my greatest thrills as a birder."

Nick photographed the threatened species with a Nikon D100 camera and Nikkor VR 80-400mm f4.5-f5.6 AF lens.

Click here for guidelines on how to submit your picture to Birder's World Photo of the Week.