My Plover Identification Problem

These un-retouched pictures were taken on March 12, 2012 on the Gulf beach at St. Georges Island on the Florida panhandle (near Apalachicola). I had been puzzled by this bird for several days wondering if it was a Semi-palmated Plover or a Piping Plover.
Many of my birding friends gave me their opinion, most thought my pictures were of pretty poor quality.


Finally, one friend who watches shorebirds all the time forwarded the pictures to his friend who has handled lots of museum birds and got this response.
I can't make this into anything but a piping plover. Look at how the white supercilium joins the forehead patch without interruption, and the breast band is darker than the border of the hindneck collar. The bird is very fat, short-legged, and stubby-billed, too, and the neck ring is decidedly incomplete ("melodus" type--which also explains the relatively dark upperparts of this bird compared to pale "circumcinctus" types). 


To which he replied
"I particularly like the darker back of the southern variety (melodus) explanation for why it looks more like a SEPL. And I like the note about the contrast between the neck band in front and in rear. The stubby-billed comment is another way of saying the bill is conical?
 
However, I have trouble with "how the white supercilium joins the forehead patch without interruption". On page 51 of O'Brien, there are several photos of non-breeding SEPL with a similar supercilium effect.  There are also pix of SEPL with seriously reduced (not incomplete) neck bands. Alan's bird's band is also reduced, not incomplete--see 5107.
 
And your calling it "very fat, short-legged"--geez! didn't your mother teach you manners? Seriously, SEPL looks equally vf, s-l in photos.
 
All in all, you've convinced me. I didn't know there could be this difficulty with plovers in FL. Alan, thanks for sharing the pix."


I was advised that Michael O'Brien's The Shorebird Guide (2006) is a very good guide. I've been using Shorebirds-an identification guide by Hayman, Marshant and Prater(1986) and am ordering the O'Brien book now.


Thanks to all for their comments. Not being able to identify a bird can be a lot of fun and a great learning experience.