Windy Day Beach Birds

When I visited Silver Sands State Park yesterday afternoon, thick gray clouds were threatening rain and the wind was strong enough to work up lots of waves. I don't usually get to see the shore like this!
 

The Piping Plovers were still sitting on their nest near the park. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there will be little plover chicks wandering the beach in the coming weeks!

A Great Egret was hunting in the shallow water close to shore. I've been looking at a lot of pictures from my friend's wedding recently, and I can't help seeing a white gown in this bird's shape:
 

Also, it turns out that egrets look absolutely ridiculous from the front (although they're still elegant from the neck down):
 

Finally, while no Piping Plovers have set up nests in the specially fenced-off area of the park's beach, at least someone's taking advantage of this space: a Killdeer pair!
 

These birds (another plover species) don't blend in with the sand quite as well as the smaller Piping Plovers do, but they seemed pretty secure in their exclusive spot:
 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Killdeer chicks as well! Yay, eggs on the beach.