At a premium

This past weekend marked the point in the chicks' growth where all four of them no longer fit so easily under mom/dad plover... so they had to find shade elsewhere!

Here they're hunkered down in the sand at the base of the ropes demarcating the closed area of the beach... in front of them is the 25 foot "buffer zone" we roped off once the chicks hatched. Beyond that is open beach and the blazing sun.