Journal of a Sabbatical

an online journal - how I quit my high-tech job for a life of guarding piping plover nests, washing litterboxes, and driving nieces to piano lessons and lived to tell about it.

Plum Island Page
brief intro to Plum Island, lots of links

Official Checklist for Parker River NWR

My Bird Lists

Plum Island Bird List

Anza-Borrego/Salton Sea

Watchemocket Cove

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My First Day as a Plover Warden

April 1, 1996

It's April 1, 1996. I'm home thawing out from plover warden duty. Besides freezing my buns off, I got to talk to a total of 9 people who were about to try to enter the nesting area of the beach and explain to them why it is closed. All were very cooperative. Two wanted more information about the piping plover, which I happily provided. That training paid off.

I also had to shoo two dogs off the beach. My radio wasn't working and by the time I would've walked up to the gatehouse to get the gatekeeper to call law enforcement I figured the dogs would've gotten so far down the beach it would be hard to catch 'em. I remembered what Charla said about having to be the alpha dog. So, I mustered up my deepest, loudest, dog intimidating voice and ordered them to go away and I chased them til they were well north of the refuge. When I turned in my report, I told the gatekeeper about the dogs. She was pretty impressed I actually got them to leave.

She knew the radio wasn't working because she'd tried to call me to ask if I was warm enough. I guess they don't want to lose any plover wardens to hypothermia.

Most people I talked to were very sympathetic about the plovers and some even wanted to know how they could help. That makes the job a lot easier.

Man Growls at Plover Warden

May 6, 1996

I had my first occasion to call for law enforcement backup. Fortunately my radio actually worked this time. A surly young man with a small white dog came in through the dunes after having been turned away by the ranger at the gatehouse. When I confronted him - once he was finally within earshot, he growled at me - yes the guy, not the dog. By the time law enforcement got there, they were off the refuge beach. Perfectly timed. My next shift after that was positively meditative. I only spoke with 3 people, who were together, who already knew about the beach closure and had come over to ask me questions about the plovers. The rest of the time I just sat there watching the beach in quiet relaxed attention.

New Age Meets Plover Warden

June 19, 1996

15 nests! On my first shift post-Iceland, it was cold and damp so I wore my Icelandic sweater. I wonder if I can deduct it as a volunteer expense. Anyway, I actually finally SAW one of the worried little birds! I was sitting there scanning for trespassers (human and canine) and saw a little zigzag movement out of the corner of my eye fairly close to where I was sitting. I whipped out the binoculars and sure enough unmistakably one piping plover catching bugs near the wrack line. Also encountered one of the weirdest trespassers so far (yes weirder than the guy who growled at me). This woman was standing on the boardwalk with her arms stretched heavenward communing with the spirit of the ocean. When I asked her if she realized the beach and boardwalk were closed she told me "I saw the signs but I KNEW I would not harm the birds, I KNEW I HAD to be here..." She apparently KNEW a lot...like she had a spiritual dispensation to be there or something. She finally left. Next shift I apprehended a Mickey Mouse balloon floating by. It was huge. Talk about something that could scare the plovers off their nests!

Jet skis menace plover chicks

June 25, 1996

A glorious beach day yesterday! Given the great weather I was surprised at how few people I had to speak to, but that must mean most people have gotten the message. I met a woman from Santa Fe who was collecting objects for a ritual by the water to help with the drought back in Santa Fe. When I explained about the plovers she was very cooperative. She said she had no idea they were endangered - actually I don't think she'd ever heard of them before. I asked her about the fires in New Mexico and she told me that the one at Bandelier had showered smoke and ash on Santa Fe. She also told me that the one in the Carson National Forest had destroyed some old growth forest. I told her I had hiked in both Bandelier and Carson and gave her my deepest wishes for rain. I saw her and another woman doing their ritual further up the public beach later on. I met a man who had no idea either piping plovers or least terns were endangered. When I told him 19 plover chicks have hatched so far, he said "that's not very many". I pointed out that it was more than before and the piping plover is really making a comeback in Massachusetts. Later he came back to ask if the "white thing" floating in the surf where he'd been swimming was a stingray and would it bite him. I looked at it through binoculars and told him, well "if it is a skate it's dead and they don't bite anyway". I think it was actually a shirt. My one moment of "gee I have no idea what to do" came when two guys on jet skis started buzzing the beach, coming right in to the waterline and then zooming out again all along the protected area. Imagine what monsters these must seem to thumb sized plover chicks trying to feed at the waterline! I called it in but Law Enforcement was up and headquarters and couldn't do anything unless the jet skiers landed. They disappeared out of range of my binoculars so I don't know what happened to them. Another day another puzzling law enforcement situation.

June 27, 1996

About the plovers: last time I saw the survey results there were 19 chicks and a few nests hadn't hatched yet. I haven't seen the results of Thursday's survey because I'm not on duty this week. I haven't seen the chicks as they are closer to the south end of the beach and I am stationed at the north end where more people try to come in. Thursday's crowd of beach goers seemed to have the attitude that the plovers were a great inconvenience to them. Some people couldn't care less about the plovers except as it prevents them from access to every bit of beach.