Snowy ... Plover

New Buffalo harbor is one of the better places in the county to find Snowy Owls.  I don't think I expected to see a Snowy Plover there though.  Likely the same SW winds that brought the Whistling-Duck brought this beauty that alternated feeding on dead (?) insects in the scum line and resting before the north winds.

 It was hanging out with the only other non-killdeer shorebird, a sanderling.

The legs were a lot lighter than my memory of birds in Florida, though this bird's legs are pretty consistent with the pics in the orange Karlson Shorebird guide and fairly close to Sibley.  It has a lot of retained wing coverts from last year.  I think that the extent of the black neck stripe indicates a breeding male.

At one point it flew towards us and happened to land pretty close giving the only non-digiscoped shots.

With this bird, I've seen more county lifers in the last 4 weeks than I saw all of last year.  It makes a person wonder what else is around.