Reader's unusual photo turns out to be a young Kentish plover

A reader photographed a bird at the Mindelo Ornithological Reserve in June that stood apart from the Kentish plovers nearby, looking larger, differently coloured, and unusually calm when a dog passed. Ornithologist Gonçalo Elias, of Aves de Portugal, identified it as a Kentish plover (Anarhynchus alexandrinus), likely a juvenile not yet flying well. The species breeds along the Portuguese coast, often nesting in salt pans or on beach dunes, and faces threats from beachgoers and dog predation. SPEA classifies it as Least Concern on the mainland but Critically Endangered in Madeira.