Two Plover Species
This post I’m sharing photographs of two plovers.
The first three photos are of Black-bellied Plovers.
Black-bellied Plover looking at you (while a Willet refuses to)
Black-bellied Plovers are the largest and heaviest of the North American plovers. They are also the hardiest, breeding farthest north, all the way to the very top of the world.
After breeding season is over, the Black-bellied Plovers we see migrate down through Canada and the U.S. to their wintering grounds in the Caribbean and northern South America.
These here have already flown thousands of miles and still have a ways to go!
Black-bellied Plovers
Black-bellied Plovers
The next two photos are of another more familiar plover, the Killdeer.
Killdeer
Killdeer are found across much of the U.S. and Canada. Killdeer are graceful plovers common to lawns, golf courses, athletic fields, and parking lots.
Killdeer
A secret! I photographed the above Killdeer standing in a puddle of water in a marina parking lot. 😉
Aha…parking lot puddle plovers!
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Love the photographs.Thanks a lot for sharing.👍🌹🙏
Thank you! 😊
Most welcome.🌹👍🙏
Wonderful
Stay wealthy healthy safe and happy
Thank you. You too!
Very nice Donna! Especially liked the Killdeer image!
Thanks Reed! There are a lot of Killdeer around, but I did have to stop for this one and the puddle reflections. 🙂
Beautiful photos, Donna! Such attractive birds, and wow can they migrate huge distances, so amazing!
Thank you, John! It truly is amazing with wildlife migrations. ❤
Love those reflections, Donna!!
Thank you, Indira!!
That last Killdeer picture is a gem!
Thank you, Stephen, I truly lucked out with that one! 🙂
Okay, where are the black bellies? Their sides are marked. Do they change in breeding season? I enjoy watching killdeer and these are lovely photos of them.
The BBPs change drastically from breeding plumage to non-breeding, losing that stark black belly. Amazing transformation! I love watching Killdeer too, they are cute and comical.
The last two photos are my favourite of this nice series. (Suzanne)
Thank you, Suzanne!
Gorgeous, Donna, especially the last images with the beautiful crisp eye and that reflection!
Thank you very much, Ellen! When I saw it in the puddle, it was one of those ‘park the car, honey’ moments. 🙂
Hopefully you waited until the car stopped moving! I almost lost Ted one time when we first started doing this and he saw a GBH. He jumped from the car while we were still rolling and I thought he was going to get run over by the car behind us!
I did! Oh no, poor Ted! Our birding antics are so funny at times. I once forgot to put my car in park, trying to jump out. I felt it rolling with one foot on the ground, whew! It was a road strip between two wetlands. I can only imagine having to call my husband and tell him the car rolled into the water. 🥴
🤣🤣🤣 May you never have to make that call!
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Beautiful pictures, the black-bellied plovers are adorable and the killdeer with reflections is a great capture!
Thanks you, Barbara! They were two great finds for me!
Great shots, Donna! Nice compositions and sharp images. 🙂
Thank you, HJ! 😃
Take them where you can. A parking lot is as good as anywhere else.
I very much agree. 😃
Superb shots Donna, there is such a likeness to your plovers to ours, they just have different names and slightly different features.
Thank you, Ashley! Wouldn’t you know it, I saw (and took photos of course) Semipalmated Plovers in a campsite near ours couple hours ago, of course, after I posted “Plovers”. 😉
Haha. I never would have guessed that the last one was shot in a parking lot. Love it. 😂
hehe thanks Irene! 😉
Sweet images, Donna. Plovers have such nice plumage. ❤
Thank you, Eliza, they do!
Two lovely sightings. Especially the parking lot puddle Kildeer.💕
Thank you, Deborah! They do love those puddles!
Superb!!! Beautiful reflection, loved it!
Thank you, I just love seeing a bird in calm waters to take reflection shots. 🙂
I never realized killdeer were plovers. I have always had a hard time identifying the shorebirds … there’s so many! I appreciate the education. I’m better at the more common song and woodland birds.
I think the gulls have me the most confused at times. Maybe sparrows and warblers too, but I’ve been working on learning those two species lately. 🙂
Funny! My best shots of a Killdeer were at a boat-launch parking lot!!! Great shots! One and all.
For some reason, they do love parking lots lol. I’ve got a family of four Killdeer running around our campground, they are so cute, doing their head-bob.
I’ll raise you 18 Quail running around the back yard… (I’m amazed at how many seem to have survived from the babies we saw in the spring.)
Wonderful photos, Donna. The first would be a life bird for me, Donna, the second I encounter nearly year-round. I often forget that killdeer are plovers, too. We do see Mountain Plovers on occasion, but other than the killdeer, the rest of them are rare in the area.
Thank you, Tanja. I picked up the BBP as a lifer this past spring, but these here are my best shots of them now, so I was tickled to see them. I don’t know the Mountain Plover, just looked it up. Nice!
I can relate, Donna, they are lovely. I think most plovers fit that description, and I hope we each get to see all of them! 🙂
So cute. The Killdeer looks like it is standing on a mirror.
I’m glad as we were driving through the marina parking lot, I got my husband to pull over for me to get those puddle shots.
I guess hubby understands “Mama with the camera says STOP.” 😄
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Lovely pictures!
For a moment there I thought you found the Killdeer near the ocean, and wondered how? (considering I was scrolling down from the plover photos)
Very cleverly framed pictures 😀
Thank you! A little cropping will do it! 😉
Great captures, Donna. Love the puddle reflection. 😅
Thanks Sylvia, I think I interrupted it’s bath! 😉
Loved it ♥️
Thank you very much!