Where the dunes used to be

Where the dunes used to be
Originally uploaded by Captain_Peleg.

I didn't get an "after" picture of the boardwalk at Lot 1 but I did get this picture of the "dunes" at the south end of the refuge. I think I found part of the Lot 1 boardwalk at Sandy Point. There are no stairs from the boardwalk to the beach at Lot 1 and there is a whole lot of lumber at Sandy Point. I thought one of of the planks I found might be part of my brother's house but he didn't recognize it in the picture.

I spent a lot of time answering questions about the storm damage rather than the piping plovers today. I tried to explain a little about the longshore current and how it carries the sand, but mostly I just told people the piping plovers hadn't nested yet so didn't lose their nests to the storm. As per usual, a few people are already asking for an exact date when the beach will be open. Being busy chasing people who didn't see the sign, trying to build a stick fence from the sign to the water line as the tide went out, and greeting a total of 21 visitors, I didn't end up with a whole long list of birds. So this isn't a very birdy entry.

And speaking of the longshore current, Unit 3 reported that the Teddy I photographed on the beach at Lot 1 has made it to mile marker 3.8. Stay tuned for further updates on how long it takes Teddy to reach Sandy Point.

monk parakeets and daffodils in rhode island (belatedly)

The monk parakeets of Narragansett Terrace in East Providence, RI are rebuilding their stick nest on the same electric pole that power company removed it from. We stopped by to check out the rebuilding on our way to Blithewold (Bristol, RI) to see the daffodils last Sunday. I can't figure out how to post the video here so you'll have to make do with a still photo. And yes, we did see daffodils.



It's about time we had something resembling spring. Of course, now several days later when I get around to posting this, it's pouring rain again.

Still hoping to get in a full shift of watching the invisibirds tomorrow.

way beyond symbolic fencing

This article from Atlantic City describes a Corps of Engineers project to create piping plover habitat in New Jersey. Clam shells and a pool... sounds like life's a beach. Sounds like some good ideas. This is the first I've heard that they don't like to get their feet wet though. They do feed more along the wrack line than in the water, but they most definitely get their feet wet when they do that foot trembling thing, which is even called "plovering" it's so characteristic of their behavior.