Figure 1 – Piping Plover, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Plum Island, Newburyport, MA. March 30, 2019. (c) DE Wolf 2019.

There is quite a fuss made each year on April 1 at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island. They actually shut down the miles of beach and the reason is the little fellow shown in Figure 1. He is a piping plover, Charadrius melodus. The piping plover is listed as a near threatened species, and he is given the whole beach to himself in early April to breed and brood in privacy and peace.  Its population, as a result, of such conservation activities is actually on the rise.

Unlike the sanderlings of yesterday’s post, which pipe for crustaeans just at the water’s edge, the piping plover hunts for small insects and worms further up the beach away from the surf. He tends to hunt alone or in smaller groups, as I found this solitary fellow. Anthropomorphically, I love the way his little feet sink into the wet sand. The food specialization reflects itself, true to Darwin and his finches, in the precise shape of its bill. Here short and stout in stark contrast to the sanderling’s long pipe.

Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens at 235mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode, 1/4000th sec at f/7/1 with -1 exposure compensation.