Dateline: 22 July 2023
Exciting news at Presque Isle State Park this week: happy to report the successful hatching of four Piping Plover babies at Gull Point! Really amazing occurrence generally, plus bonus points for an actual sighting/photo or several.
These @ 800mm shots suffer from the distance + heat shimmer; still fun to see. All from Saturday morning @ observation platform, looking generally south and to the left (east) of the nesting enclosure. (See location note at bottom of post.)
Adult (far right) + chick 1 (middle) + chick 2 (far left):
Three chicks (far right, right middle, and far left):
Adult (far right) + 3 chicks (middle right, middle left, and far left):
Uncropped view @ 800mm (aspect ratio changed to 16×9):
Finally, all 4 chicks together! (Far right, right middle, left middle, and far left.)
Following two views are cropped from the same single photograph. First is Piping Plover chicks #1-3, the second #4 (to the left of the 3):
Also seen Saturday: Yellowlegs, Dowitcher, Sanderling, Spotted Sandpiper and other sandpiper, Bank Swallow and other swallows, Canada Geese, Ring-billed Gull and other gulls, Caspian Tern, Turkey Vulture, Song Sparrow, GBH, House Wren, Baltimore Oriole, American Robin, Gray Catbird!, Red-winged Blackbird, Green Heron, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Kingbird, American Goldfinch, American Crow, rabbits having breakfast, etc. – report to follow. (Also lots of Killdeer. Can’t forget the Killdeer.)
Location note: from a different day, wide-angle iPhone shot of where the Plovers above were seen – nest enclosure to right of center, Plovers sighted approximately on the lagoon far shore at very center:
