Least Terns Are Back

North

Coffee of the Day: Ethiopian Harrar
Bird of the Day: least tern
Weird Wrack Item of the Week: unidentified round thing
Invisi-bird Status: Haven't seen this week's report yet.  Number actually seen by me: 2

Piping Plover in the Wrack Line

I really thought my shift would be rained out, but the rain stopped just in time. The heavy clouds mainly kept people off the beach. A few guys were fishing for stripers and not catching  much of anything. One guy caught the smallest striped bass I've seen yet. That was about it.

Had my first Big Steve sighting of the season. He was just leaving when I was picking up the radio and backpack at the gatehouse.  Also had a Tom Wetmore sighting. Would love to know what he saw with his scope looking out beyond the flock of long tailed ducks.

South

The pink plastic kiddie car is still on the town beach in the same spot. I didn't bother taking a picture of it because it hasn't moved.  There were the usual Hooksett disks on the beach. They're going to be there forever. There was even one in the parking lot at Plum Island Coffee Roasters. The strangest thing I found as I walked the wrack line was large round thing about the size of a salad plate - gray on top, black on the sides. It looked like some kind of filter disk though I can't figure out what it might be a filter from.

Large Round Thing in the Wrack Line

For most of the shift it was just me, the fishermen, and the birds. Two piping plovers flew in from the general direction of the 0.2 mile marker, doing their trademark peep-lo call. The both fed for awhile then one flew back. The other one stayed, running back and forth along the water line. It didn't stay in the closed area (they can't read after all), but it would turn back as soon as it got to about even with the boardwalk (if you drew a line from the boardwalk to the waterline, I mean).

Piping Plover in Outgoing Tide

A couple of common terns and a small flock of about 6 least terns showed up and were diving like crazy. It's good to see the least terns back for the season. I hope they nest on the refuge beach. It was fun to compare the least and common terns' diving techniques side by side.

At the Water's Edge

I hadn't really had to say much more than "Hi!" to a few visitors until a huge group of high school kids arrived on a field trip.  One of the teachers came over and told me they knew about the plover nesting, assured me they had a group permit, and all that stuff. I gave one of the other teachers some of the handouts about piping plovers.  The kids were doing some kind of interdisciplinary art project on the beach, which seemed harmless enough.  When the one plover who'd been around all day returned to the public use area, I asked the teachers to make sure the kids stayed at least 10 feet away from it.  They assured me everything would be OK.  Then I spotted boys digging in the dunes and girls sitting in the dunes right next to the signs that tell you the dune is fragile and keep out. I flagged down a teacher and asked him to talk to them, which he did. So far so good. Just before it was time for me to leave I spotted more kids sliding down the dune (you know, the one that's been slowing building back up -- you've seen it on the news...) ... Flagged down another teacher and she got right on it. I was relieved I didn't have to call Law Enforcement.  I did mention the situation to Gatehouse when I left.

May 16 -- Feeding Frenzy

Invisi-bird  with Bubbles

Coffee of the Day: Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
Bird of the Day: common tern -- lots of 'em
Weird Wrack Item of the Week: the pink plastic kiddie car is still still here
Invisi-bird status: Refuge beach 28 pairs, 12 nests; Sandy Point 4 pairs, 2 nests; Town beach 0. Number actually seen by me: 2.

Looking North

When I arrived, the beach was empty except for two striper fishermen and a trail of footprints. The fishermen weren't catching much. Whatever stripers they hauled in were smaller than my cat (who is very small) and got thrown back immediately.  The footprints of a person and a dog looked like they had been there even before the fishermen arrived. I never saw anybody in the closed area.

Looking South

Trespasser Footprints

Visitors were scarce despite the beautiful sunny day. That may be because it was not a beautiful sunny day inland. All morning I kept expecting the rain to move toward the coast but it didn't. 

Invisi-bird at Low Tide

Two piping plovers hung around together feeding just to the south of the boundary, but I saw no signs of mating behavior.  Birding in general was fairly slow until almost lunch time. There were the usual long tailed ducks, a few cormorants, and three common terns. Then suddenly there were hundreds of terns, hundreds of cormorants, gulls, and various kinds of diving ducks all in one spot in a giant feeding frenzy. Something big must have chased all the small bait fish toward that spot. Terns were diving from every direction. It was spectacular to watch.

Feeding Frenzy

I hope the Mass Audubon Birdathon people I saw on the Lot 1 boardwalk got to sort through all those species to add to their tally.

Mass Audubon Birdathon People

Instead of yet another photo of the pink plastic kiddie car, which is inexplicably still here, I'll include a somewhat hazy photo of the light reflecting off solar panels on a roof near the northern end of the island. At times it looked like a giant column of light hovering over the roof and stretching way up into the sky. Maybe the homeowners were signaling an alien spaceship :-)

Column of Light Reflecting Upward off Solar Panels

May 9 -- The Birdiest Day Yet

North

Coffee of the Day: Tanzania Peaberry
Bird of the Day: brown thrasher
Weird Wrack Item of the Week: a seat by the fireside
Invisi-bird Status: Refuge beach 24 pairs, 4 nests; Sandy Point 4 pairs, 2 nests, Town beach 0. Number actually seen by me: 3.

Interesting clouds, relatively little wind, lots of birds ... I repeat lots of birds. This was by far the birdiest day yet. Common terns are back. Three black-bellied plovers were feeding along the water line near the three piping plovers and one semipalmated sandpiper (one -- they can exist alone ? :-)). An osprey flew directly over my head.  The beach just seemed totally alive with birds.

Still Here!

The pink plastic kiddie car is still here. I'd have thought some kid would have taken it home by now.

A Seat by the Fireside

It looks like the illegal beach bonfire season has started. I spotted freshly burnt logs, empty beer bottles, and a cushion positioned cozily by the fireside.  Only one cushion? I guess the other firebugs sat in the sand. Sigh. I'm thinking we need a webcam set up on the Lot 1 boardwalk pointed at this spot. That would probably be cheaper than posting law enforcement out there all night. Anyway, at least these people didn't leave the freakin' fire burning (that has happened before).

South

The birding got even better as I was leaving after my shift. Two brown thrashers were bustling around in the underbrush in the dune near the gatehouse. As I was watching them, an eastern towhee landed on a bush right above them and admonished me to drink my tea.  It actually seems like summer already.