Semipalmated Plover Yoga

Don't try this at home

We went birding on the NH coast yesterday (and left before the traffic got really bad). I photographed this wonderful Semipalmated Plover doing yoga. Actually, it was doing a preening, scratching movement, but look how it has dropped its wing and lifted its leg over the wing to reach up to its head and scratch.

Semipalmated Plovers are one of the smaller plovers and many are migrating now. In summer plumage they have a dark ring around their neck, in winter their neckband is browner and may be incomplete. In juvenile plumage, as shown in these birds, there are fine pale margins to the wing and crown feathers. The name semipalmated means having the front three toes partly webbed. You can see it in the bottom photo, look at the webbing between the toes.