the beach is a weird place

Saturday April 18
AM Shift - North
Coffee of the Day: Boatyard Brew
Bird of the Day: Double crested cormorant
Weird wrack item of the week: umm, you decide.
Invisi-bird status: Refuge: 20 pairs, Sandy Point 2 pairs, Town Beach 2 pairs. Number actually seen by me: zero.

Looking South

Some days are weirder than others.  Some days are just weird. Weird. Weird. Haven't said weird enough yet. For only the fourth or maybe fifth time in like 20 years of plover wardening, there were no radios in the equipment box. There should be two radios happily charging in their little cradles, but there were zero. Called headquarters. Brainstorming together, we were unable to figure out where the radios have gone. We agreed to use cellphones in the event of anything requiring communication until someone could bring me a radio.

Low-flying Aeroplane

The weather was spectacular -- clear and bright and not unbearably windy. Among other things, this meant lots of activity from the Plum Island Aerodrome.  I got a little nervous when an extremely low-flying plane resembling an ultralight flew over the beach. When I first spotted it, it was slightly offshore, then it came in over the water line, then as it proceeded south it came further inland and at lower altitude. The lower it got, the more concerned I got that it would crash on the closed area of beach. Fortunately, it regained a little altitude before it flew out toward Cape Ann.

The major bird excitement of the day was a long line of about a thousand double-crested cormorants bookin' it north. Actually I lost count at two groups of 500, so there may have been more than 1000. It was impressive to watch.

Highly Photogenic Log

There was a huge log washed up on the beach, looking very photogenic, and loads of people were taking photos of it. As I was answering questions about the piping plovers, about the Sandy Point parking lot (only the first lot is open so it gets full fast), and the Blue Inn (it's closed for renovations I don't have any insider knowledge beyond that, yet a visitor believed I would be able to tell her the inside scoop on "what happened to the Blue Inn"),  I spotted the strangest thing I have yet seen on the beach.

A man carrying a couch walked onto the beach and placed the couch next to the photogenic log. I thought this odd. Who brings a couch to the beach?  The tide was clearly coming in, swirling up around the log periodically. Two women appeared. One a young model carrying a couple of dresses, one very poufy. The other apparently the photographer's assistant, carrying the thick couch cushion.

Photo Shoot

The photographer placed the couch next to the picturesque, photogenic log and turned to answer a question about which dress the model was supposed to put on. A wave washed over the couch -- which was still awaiting the cushion.  After some negotiation amongst themselves the photographer moved the couch further up from the water line. They did a bunch of photos with various of the dresses. The model was wearing fairly skimpy bikini underwear beneath the voluminous dresses, which struck me as funny,

Seriously

Just when I thought they had become more sensible, he had her pose next to the log - without the couch - with waves swirling around her. I got a little worried that this was going to turn into a disaster like the bizarre photo shoot last August where one model lost his glasses and one got seriously scratched up. Fortunately, they finished up safely and toted the couch off the beach. My relief arrived and told me he'd just seen the strangest thing... to which I immediately said "oh, the couch."