after that 10.9 foot high tide (delayed post)

May 18, 2018
Coffee of the Day: French Roast
Bird of the Day: least tern
Weird Wrack Item of the Week: a Minion
Invisi-bird Status: Refuge: 43 pairs, 10 nests. Sandy Point: 10 pairs, 7 nests. Town Beach: 6 pairs, 2 nests. Number actually seen by me: 2.
Notes: 8 nests lost to predation by crows, 8 nests lost to flooding because of that huge high tide (10.9 feet).

Black-bellied Plovers

I was relieved to spot my personal piping plover pair -- the northernmost pair on the refuge beach -- after hearing about the nests washed over by the unusually high tide. The nest is fairly far back from the high tide line but could still be vulnerable. They were both doing a great job of camouflaging themselves in the sand. You'd really have to be looking for them to notice them unless they're running around or making the peep-lo call.

You can't see me! Or my nest! I'm invisi-bird!

There are finally a few least terns around this end of the beach, but they aren't doing any mating/pair-bonding activities yet.

A small flock of black-bellied plovers landed on the beach and hung out for awhile feeding along the water line. There wasn't all that much bird activity on the beach today. The most interesting shorebird I saw today was a short-billed dowitcher across the street from the airport.

Weird Wrack Item of the Week