This is from our favorite Ranger/Photographer Gary Cooke, (the picture captions are from Gary, too):

I took these shots last Friday on the bay side of the point. The chicks (three of them then) had ventured under the string that designates the protected area, and were running from dune grass to waters edge. Mother and Father were kept quite busy warding off danger and herding their young to safety. I was told that Sunday this brood was one less. Probably a victim to ghost crabs.

If go to look for them…
Watch your step,

Gary

…a lone chick. Small, fragile, and very fast.

Mother and child probably running in different directions, which seems to be the norm. Chick running from ghost crab or gull and Mother towards danger to protect.

…a parent pursuing some laughing gulls. No matter how large the danger, protect the chick.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 18th, 2007 at 8:57 pm and is filed under Beaches, Delaware, Environment, Science, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.