Grey Plover (Black-breasted Plover)

One of the advantages of bird photography in Florida and similar places is the amazing light, especially late in the evening and at dawn. Mostly, the sunshine is so intense that the camera almost gets confused by the harshness of bright and shadow. I have seen on numerous occasions that people struggle with the intense light and I can include myself among them. This picture was taken during the late afternoon when the sun was setting in the East (of course) and with the sun over my shoulder, it was hard, but not impossible to freeze the action of this fast flying species. The bird is a Grey Plover, known in the US as a Black Bellied Plover. This is a very widespread species that can be found wintering not only on the beaches of Florida but also here in the UK as well as Australia too. I saw them on the beaches of Broward County whenever I looked, and in the winter that is always the case. By April and May they are not so easy to find, by then, adult birds have returned on the long distant migration back to the Arctic and their breeding grounds but first year birds may remain "down-south" until their second year.