Journal of a Sabbatical |
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May 10, 2001 |
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big shiny waves |
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Plover
Count: Today's
Bird Sightings: Today's Reading: Fresh Air Fiend by Paul Theroux Today's Starting Pitcher: Tomo Ohka Plum Island Bird List |
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The tide was coming in when my shift started, and the feature of the day was definitely the ocean more than the birds. Some days are like that. For the longest time I just sat there today thinking something like "oh look at the big shiny waves". It wasn't that verbal though. It was more like a feeling of fascination with how the unrelenting sun glinted off the inexorable waves under the dry blue dome of sky. I didn't have many visitors to deal with even though it was a definite beach day. Most people read the sign and walked in the direction of Sandy Point without needing to be told and without asking any questions. A flock of oldsquaws frolicked in the
surf fairly close to shore. In fact as the tide came in, the
oldsquaws just floated closer and closer until it was
possible to id. them with the naked eye. They're very
splashy divers, not as smooth as buffleheads (my
faves). Lots of cormorant action, mostly in small flocks of 3 to 5, skimming low over the water. Oddly few landed on the water and few dove. Maybe whatever the oldsquaws were catching isn't tasty to cormorants. A pair of northern rough-winged swallows flew back and forth from the loose soil of the cliff (the side of the drumlin or whatever it's called) to the beach directly over my head. A couple of times I could hear the wind in their wings, not just their calls. They were engaged in some kind of nest building activity that involved going in and out of the cliff a lot. They chased each other a lot too. Three kingbirds got into a big squabble in midair. At first I thought it was two against one, but then the ones that I thought were working together turned on each other. Lots of pecking and harassing of each other, and as is normal for kingbirds, a lot of noise. Another kingbird apart from the fracas sat on a piece of driftwood just buzzing away loudly until some people walked past and he moved to a fence post on the refuge boundary directly behind my head and called that buzzy call for many many minutes right into my ear. He was that close. Kingbirds are bold. Not shy at all.
I'm slowly getting back into the wildflower project. Bluets, violets, mustard, and sorrel are in bloom (is the mustard introduced? must check on that). I took some pictures yesterday afternoon and some this afternoon and will add them to my growing database, which I will at some point organize for my Plum Island web page. |
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Copyright © 2001, Janet I. Egan |