Beach, Birds, and Things

The first birds we took note of at the beach this morning were a pair of Piping Plovers. When a predator or a careless human (me) comes too close to Piping Plover chicks or a nest with eggs in it, the adult bird will try to draw the intruder away by pretending to have an injured wing. I actually got to see this behavior at Marine Beach today and it was pretty cool and successfully distracting. I only saw the chick for a minute and though I could hear it peeping, it successfully hid among the Casuarina trees while I watched its parent fake a wing injury. Looking back into the Casuarinas did reward me with a good view of a hairy woodpecker instead, but I soon resumed my search for shells and sea glass. Apparently we strayed far enough out on the rocks looking at sea urchins, small neon green fish, and starfish that when we came back in the Plover family was caught unawares granting us a peek at two tiny well camouflaged chicks darting away through the seaweed wrack line and beyond at the urging of their parents.

We then biked over to CCBeach, inside the little harbor and sandy, not rocky, for a stop at the bathrooms before a swim. In the bathroom we came face to face with a tiny black-faced grassquit who had probably flown in for a drink of fresh water. I preferred him to the frogs that I usually encounter there. On the lounge chair down by the shore, my friend Shannon laid out all the little shells she’d collected in a line. She told me that if any of the shells moved while we were swimming she’d know those were occupied and she’d leave them at the water’s edge. From the water we watched a Great Blue Heron stroll by looking at the shells for signs of life snacks. I don’t know how many more of these beach trips I can take (big sigh)…probably at least two trips each day I am here.