This tiny Piping Plover chick wandered out of the restricted access area on Sandy Point and into the tide pools near the water line! At this point, he had stopped running and was standing there, at the edge of the water, just looking around. It looked like he was wondering how he got there! So CUTE! 😉
2 day old piping plover chick is hardly taller than a piece of seaweed!
Young chick testing out the wings
Piping plover chick trying to figure out how to handle this big mouthful!
Once chicks hatch, the nest is wherever mom is! The chicks nestle under her for warmth, the off again to explore and find bugs to eat
A full clutch of Piping Plover eggs on the shore of the Missouri River.
I work for Virginia Tech on their Piping Plover and Least Tern monitoring program. After weeks and weeks of searching for and finding nests, we then had to wait a second eternity until they hatched. Until one sunny morning, we came upon one of the nests to see not one, but two of the cutest faces waiting for us in the nest bowl. It was a wonderful morning.