It’s winter and the migrants are swarming our coasts. Not as many as in years past, birders crib, but we take what we get.
The Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) is a bird of decidedly unique appearance. It found along the coasts of Asia and Africa, where it chases after crabs and deftly pries them open with its highly specialized steak-knife of a bill. We Ogres ran into these lovely waders first on the sandbars of Bhadreshwar Beach in coastal Kutch in 2009, where they large numbers of Crab Plovers had congregated.
I found this juvenile Crab Plover last week in Purakkad beach, Alappuzha, Kerala on Christmas day, as it took a leisurely stroll on the sands. Being single, it allowed me to get close and take a few close portraits. Full Frame, as we photographers say — to our delight and to the envy of others like us!
Sandy loves to photograph birds and landscapes, and considers photography and writing as his meditation. Now based out of the US, Sandy juggles his time between parental duties, a full time engineering role, writing short fiction in Malayalam, and an occasional birding trip thrown in between. His debut novel in Malayalam hits the bookstalls in January 2025.
Sandy can be found at instagram as @footprintsonlight
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