11. Rollin Rollin Rollin: Plover Photography for Dummies. 5

Thinking about nature photography you probably picture fresh green meadows, meandering rivers, foggy forests or something like that.
At least I did.

So when I recently cycled to a deserted piece of land along the highway, my romantic image instantly got killed.
This unsightly terrain was supposed to house a most lovely little plover family.
It’s quite a riddle to me why you would want to raise your cute fluffy babies on a bare piece of land with cars racing by, but I guess that must be some kind of Plover Habit.

Indeed, within no time I saw two plovers crossing the land – they were so small I initially mistook these adult birds for youngsters.
I was told that baby plovers are no bigger than a blowfly, but I just couldn’t believe it until I saw the babies: they are REALLY that tiny!

The light was perfect, the models were present, so all we had to do was span 30 meters without disturbing this tender new happiness.

Crawling inch by inch towards your subject is a proven method for photographing plovers.
Only one arm available, because the other one is holding a tele lens.
A huge disadvantage is that elbows and knees get severely damaged by the sharp rocks.

Fortunately my colleague photographer- tired of biting the dust- introduced a far more efficient method.
Instead of crashing your belly on the sharp stones, you just twist your body at an angle of 90 degrees to the subject.
Then gently roll around your long axis towards the bird, while holding one arm stretched to prevent your lens from getting damaged.
Obviously this requires some practice.

After a certain number of turns you might be a little dizzy, but elbows and knees are safe and more importantly; the bird is within reach!
An additional advantage is the fact that this rolling looks so clumsy that no bird will see any danger in it.
Disadvantage: the rolling makes you literally ROFL and even the utmost care can’t compensate for the vibration caused by all this laughter.;)

Little Plover Parent1

Little Plover Parent2

Little baby plover in hiding

Sleeping little plover chick.

Stretching little plover

Mother plover holding a baby plover under her wings

How many little plover chicks will fit into a big one?

At least three...!

Baby plover in the last evening light

And another one...