Rachel Carson was important in the history of Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, and PRNWR was an important part of her history too. So, for her birthday today, here is a link to an entry I wrote back in 2009 about PRNWR's Rachel Carson connection.
If you want to read her description of the refuge, you can download it here.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
piping plover news roundup
Haven't done a roundup of piping plover news stories in awhile, so here are a few of the latest stories around the media.
- From Sauble Beach in Ontario: One pair of piping plovers set up housekeeping at beach.
- From Wasaga Beach in Ontario: Piping Plovers in Wasaga.
- From Cape Hatteras National Seashore: First piping plover hatches on Hatteras seashore.
- From Newfoundland: Piping plover flies back to Gros Morne.
- From Erie, Pennsylvania: First piping plover seen on Presque Isle since 2009.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
great bird stories on vinyl cafe podcast
I'm catching up on my podcasts and just listened to the May 14th show of The Vinyl Cafe. It's a rebroadcast of last spring's show from Point Pelee. Stuart McLean talks about his experience birding there at migration time, reads a listener's bird story, and tells a wonderful Dave and Morley story about a summer tanager. Give it a listen.
saturday's shift -- with least terns
Actually got to do a shift on Saturday, as it was not raining and I did not have other commitments (I hate it when I have another commitment on the only day it doesn't rain and then it rains on a day when I'm scheduled.)
Coffee of the Day: French Roast Sumatra
Bird of the Day: piping plover
Invisi-bird Status: Refuge beach: 9 pairs, 5 nests. Sandy Point: 3 pairs, 2 nests. Newbury town beach 1 pair with nest. Number actually seen by me: 1
Wierd Wrack Item of the Day: part of CD jewel case
My pictures don't really show how high the waves were and no photo can show the undertow sucking the sand out to sea, but you can kinda get the idea that it was a high high tide on a gray blustery day. One of the fishermen commented on how the sand was getting sucked out even as a front end loader on the town beach was trying to build up the dune. Humans seem perpetually at two with the sea.
The same guy had told me awhile back about finding a message in a bottle on Plum Island. Now he told me the followup story. He called the number on the note and discovered it was a girl in Essex. She'd thrown it in off Essex 4 months before. It took 4 months to get from Essex to Newbury.
Double-crested cormorants by the hundreds were streaming northward. Each flock was bigger than the next. It was cool to watch. A common loon flew over my head, surprising me. Long-tailed ducks, red-breasted mergansers, and a couple of common eiders bobbed on the waves just offshore. Gulls were mostly resting on the sand, not flying in the wind. A couple of laughing gulls flew by, which was pretty cool.
Shortly after I'd seen the laughing gulls, a large group of birders from Amherst arrived. I told them they'd just missed laughing gulls, but there were still plenty of species to see. I got to tell them about the piping plover life cycle, so felt like I was a worthwhile person.
The oddest bird I saw was a rock pigeon who foraged in the wrack and then walked up into the dunes. Not exactly pigeon habitat.
My day was finally made when a single piping plover flew by with a peep call and landed along the water line. I watched it feed for about 40 minutes before it took off. I was smiling the whole time. Naturally, shortly after the plover disappeared, one of the birdathon teams showed up. I didn't tell them they'd just missed it. I figured they'd see some of them at Sandy Point anyway. (Several teams did, according to the posted results.)As I was packing up to leave, two least terns flew over my head calling kip-kip-kip. My first of the season.
I know it's the biggest weekend in birding and real birders were ticking off tons of colorful warblers dripping from the trees at Hellcat, but for me one piping plover and two least terns beat a tree full of warblers. I smiled all the way home.
Coffee of the Day: French Roast Sumatra
Bird of the Day: piping plover
Invisi-bird Status: Refuge beach: 9 pairs, 5 nests. Sandy Point: 3 pairs, 2 nests. Newbury town beach 1 pair with nest. Number actually seen by me: 1
Wierd Wrack Item of the Day: part of CD jewel case
 |
| South |
The same guy had told me awhile back about finding a message in a bottle on Plum Island. Now he told me the followup story. He called the number on the note and discovered it was a girl in Essex. She'd thrown it in off Essex 4 months before. It took 4 months to get from Essex to Newbury.
 |
| North |
Shortly after I'd seen the laughing gulls, a large group of birders from Amherst arrived. I told them they'd just missed laughing gulls, but there were still plenty of species to see. I got to tell them about the piping plover life cycle, so felt like I was a worthwhile person.
The oddest bird I saw was a rock pigeon who foraged in the wrack and then walked up into the dunes. Not exactly pigeon habitat.
 |
| Rock Pigeon |
I know it's the biggest weekend in birding and real birders were ticking off tons of colorful warblers dripping from the trees at Hellcat, but for me one piping plover and two least terns beat a tree full of warblers. I smiled all the way home.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
stuff in the merrimack
I haven't done a "stuff in the Merrimack" entry lately. It's hard to top the Hooksett discs as both stuff in the Merrimack and weird wrack item of the week. But there's always new stuff showing up in the river.
Stuff in the Merrimack:
Stuff in the Merrimack:
- A tow truck in Lowell: WHDH-TV - Stolen tow truck discovered in Merrimack River
- A Jeep in Hooksett: Jeep pulled from Merrimack River
- On the riverbank in West Newbury, bones in a shoe.
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