Today on BirdingPI.com, celebrating the recent successful hatching of a new Piping Plover brood (4 chicks + 2 adults were spotted) at Presque Isle State Park, with bad digital photography + fun cartoons. (All shots on 13 June 2026 @ 600mm from the old observation platform at Gull Point, under windy + ‘heat shimmery’ conditions.)
Some of these shots are also provided in annotated form with adults in red and chicks in yellow:
You need that 1,000 + mm lens. Or bigger birds!
Very good shots, considering all things!
Loved the cartoons, especially the one AI Crammer!
Good to see the very knowledgeable Ranger!
They’re more common now than 4-5 years ago, but back then “where are the Piping Plovers?” was a real thing.
Anyway, easy enough to convert a 600mm lens to 840mm or 1200mm equivalent with a tele-extender, but it makes image stabilization, focusing, and heat shimmer effects all the worse. Always a tradeoff.