Friday's Foto

Sticking with my recent coastal theme ... the Semipalmated Plover is probably the most common plover one encounters around NYC during migration. In fact, unlike many shorebird species, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists this species "of least concern". One very unusual feature of this plover, according to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is that they've been "seen to swim short distances across small water channels during foraging while on migration. Chicks also swim short distances to follow parents to small islets on shallow lakes."