Eric Freedman snapped these photos while on a recent visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which sits along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties.
Lake Michigan beach at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Image: Eric Freedman
While walking along the pristine Lake Michigan shoreline, Freedman looked up at the near-blue skies and down to the beach, where endangered piping plovers are known to nest.
Piping plover conservation area at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Image: Eric Freedman
After the piping plovers return in spring from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, park volunteers rope off nesting areas like these (pictured above) to prevent any disturbance that might cause the birds to abandon their nests. It also prevents beach-goers from accidentally damaging a nesting site or trampling their eggs.
Sleeping Bear Dunes manages its piping plover population, which is one of three remaining populations. Piping plovers prefer Sleeping Bear not for the same beachside views, but because the beaches provide the gravel needed for proper nesting habitat.
Sleeping Bear Point Life-Saving Station at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Image: Eric Freedman
Further along the Lake Michigan shore is the Sleeping Bear Point Life-Saving Station (now the Maritime Museum), which was built in 1901 to house the crew and equipment responsible for saving the lives of crews or ships in distress. This Life-Saving Service was merged with the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to create the U.S. Coast Guard, according to the park.
Visit or learn more: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore