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July 13, 1998
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Previous Entry Today's Narragansett Vocabulary Words: Ascoscoi - green
Today's bird list: 1 purple martin |
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This has not exactly been the best year for piping plovers on Plum Island. The statistics on the white board by the gatehouse read: pairs 9, chicks 9. I checked my notebook for this time last year: Between the constant storms of May and June and the ever present predators, not a lot of nests have been successful. "What's with these flies with the green heads?" asked a youngish woman in a bathing suit while flailing at greenheads with both hands. "You're not from around here, are you?" I replied. Turns out she's from Atlanta. Never saw a greenhead in her life before. By the time she asked me about them I'd already gotten my first greenhead bite of the season smack dab in the middle of my back - right through my t-shirt and my bra strap. I could feel the welt rising. Every time I moved, my shirt rubbed against it. I had sprayed all my exposed skin areas with bug juice and soaked the cuffs of my pants with it as well, but I couldn't quite squirm around to spray my back. So one of 'em found an opening and went for it. So I gave the Atlanta woman the brief overview: they are a coastal plague only, Deep Woods Off sort of works to keep them from biting but your best protection is a strong wind, thick clothing does no good because they can bite through denim. The usual info. So, what is it about greenheads? Early New England colonist William Wood describes greenheads in Chapter 11, Of the Evils and Such Things as Are Hurtful in the Plantations, of his New England's Prospect published in 1634. He has this to say about them:
Actually they breed in salt marshes, not woods, and they peak in July, but they certainly do nip sore and draw blood! Random facts about greenheads:
With painful predators like greenheads around, would you sunbathe in the altogether? I sure wouldn't. I'd want to make darn sure my most vulnerable parts were not exposed to those obnoxious jaws with wings. So, what about the naked guy? Several people mentioned to me that there was a guy sunbathing in the buff. Yup. He was definitely letting it all hang out . I called law enforcement to report him. As soon as the guy saw law enforcement approaching over the dunes, he slipped on a thong and walked down to the water, got wet and walked back to his blanket like he'd just come from swimming. This didn't fool anybody, but since law enforcement didn't actually see him naked they couldn't cite him for it. He got off with a warning. At least he put his pants on and left the beach. When I left, the guys at the gatehouse teased me about how long I waited before I called. Hey, it wasn't that interesting a view. I didn't see a single piping plover all day. I did see hundreds of ring billed, herring, and black backed gulls. |
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