Piping Plover Bird – Small Waders – 5/2/2017

Two Piping Plovers were photographed at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Select this link to see photos of the Piping Plover

The Piping Plover is a small pale bird, the color of dry sand, with an incomplete dark ring around the neck, and throat, belly and undersides white, with yellow legs, yellow beak with a black tip. In winter the legs and bill are dark. It has a range of south Canada to northeast and central United States. It has a habitat of sand beaches and tidal flats. It has a diet of insects, marine worms, and crustaceans. It moves about in quick fashion and abrupt stops, and is hard to see when on the sand when foraging by pecking.

 

 

Willet Bird – Small Waders – 5/2/2012

The Willet was photographed on the beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin north of Bradford Beach on Lake Michigan

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Willet

The Willet is a gray-brown bird with a black sturdy bill, and bluish-gray legs. In flight a striking black and white band pattern can be seen. It has a range of central southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and along the United States seashores. It has a habitat of marshes, wet meadows, mudflats, and beaches. It is often seen singly on beaches. Its diet consists of insects, crustaceans, marine worms, and small fish.

 

Glaucous Gull Bird – Aerialists – 1/12/2013

This lone Glaucous Gull was photographed north of Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Lake Michigan.

Select this link to see photos or a slideshow of the Glaucous Gull

The Glaucous Gull is a chalky white gull with a gray mantle, frosty white wing tips, flesh colored legs, and large yellow bill. Adults have a pale gray mantle. It has a range of the Arctic; circumpolar, and comes to the Great Lakes and the northeast US coast. Also Alaska, western Canada coast, and northwestern US coast. It is the only large Gull common to the High Artic. It has a coastal habitat and seldom comes inland. The diet is highly variable, includes fish, mollusks, crustaceans, worms, sea urchins, insects, birds, eggs, berries, seaweed, and carrion (dead animals).