Beach Babes!

You know that summer is here when the beach babes appear! Down at South Cape May Beach - Cape May's real beach - moms are busy tending to their charges, which at present are little fluffy balls on two sticks. Both American Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers have young right now and they are an obvious target for local photographers, so here's a little photo gallery of our latest additions.

First the American Oystercatchers, with one here testing the boundaries of edibility! [Photo by Mike Hannisian]

Time for both parents to get involved [Photo by Beth Polvino]

When danger threatens, patches of American Beachgrass come in handy [Photo by Beth Polvino]

Now the Piping Plovers - and one of the things you quickly notice is that their parents are far less attentive than those of the oystercatchers'. [Photo by Beth Polvino]

A walk along the strand might turn up something nice for breakfast... [photo by Mike Hannisian]

...or it might be so scary that you have to run back home! [Photo by Beth Polvino]