best ever year for number of PIPL pairs

This calls for a celebration:
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge had a record year for number of nesting piping plovers in 2012. 

27 pairs fledged 39 chicks. Not only is that excellent "productivity", but that's also a record number of nesting pairs. The previous high for nesting pairs was 21 in 1995 according to biological staff.  I remember when I thought 19 nesting pairs was awesome. 

This is all the more amazing given the June 3 storm with the enormous high tide that wiped out nests and killed some chicks. 

Another amazing thing is that those extremely late chicks I was worrying about at the north end of the beach actually fledged.

This news definitely calls for a celebratory coffee at PICR.

rough meadows revisited

Professor Chandler's Long Walk Trail

After my first visit, I couldn't wait to explore more of the trails at Rough Meadows and I couldn't wait to take Nancy there.  So we took a long walk on Professor Chandler's Long Walk a few days later.  When I said the trail was named after Alfred D. Chandler who had bequeathed the land, Nancy immediately said Strategy and Structure. Now there's an AmCiv reference if ever there were one! I checked and confirmed to Nancy that it was indeed the Strategy and Structure Chandler.

Yellow and Pink

The meadows and the marsh were looking even more spectacular than on my first visit.  The glory that is autumn in the Great Marsh was making itself visible all over the place.

The Great Marsh

It's amazing how many colors there are in the meadows. It's not just the flowers. The grasses, glasswort, everything changes color.

Shades of Pink

Shades of Gold and Red Among the Green

More Golds and Reds with Some Pink

It was just a totally stunning day, the kind of day people move here for (thinking that these gorgeous late summer days are more frequent than they really are).

Glasswort Turning Red for Autumn

sometimes Google just cracks me up