Piping plover chick, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 2014.

Piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) are sand-colored, sparrow-sized shorebirds that nest and feed along coastal sand and gravel beaches in North America. They're usually difficult to see when standing still and typically runs in short spurts and stops. It shouldn't be surprising that their eggs and chicks are also excellently-camouflaged on the sand and gravel beaches that this species loves. NOTE: Apostle Islands, which includes an island named 'Long Island', is a group of 22 islands in Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin. Interestingly, it is geographically different from the other islands and actually more like an extension of the spit off of Chequamegon Point. Long Island measures just 6.4 km long and only 75-380 meters wide.