Piping Plover
© Richard Seeley
Published:
July 4, 2011
Richard Seeley of Gloucester, Massachusetts, captured this great shot of a female Piping Plover
(Charadrius melodus) doing her best to shelter her brood of four chicks. One young puffball faces the camera while three other sets of legs are visible beneath mom.
Richard shot the photo at Crane Beach in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in spring 2011. He writes on his
blog that to reach the plover nesting area requires a one- to two-mile hike. “Carrying a full load of camera gear, tripod, and my 500mm lens can make for an exhausting morning — but the exhilaration of watching and photographing the plover chicks more than makes up for it,” he says.
Richard used a Canon 7D with a 500mm f4 lens plus a 1.4x extender. He also shot fun videos of the young birds huddling below their mother. See
“No Room at the Inn” and
“Plover Full House” on YouTube.
View more photos of Piping Plover:
• Adult on a beach
• Chick foragingView Richard’s past Photos of the Week:
• Osprey
• Atlantic Puffin
A picture you take could win you a subscription to
BirdWatching!
We choose a new photo every Monday. And every other month, we ask a
professional bird photographer whose work we’ve
published in the magazine to pick the best Photo of the Week over the
previous two months. We’ll give the winner a free one-year subscription
to
BirdWatching. Plus, we’ll publish his
or her photo in the magazine!
Send us your photo today!RulesWinnersSpecies
List
Join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr!