May 21, 2005

a mouthful of wrack, a striped bass, the universe, and everthing
May 21, 2005

I stopped at Plum Island Coffee Roasters, which despite its name is not on Plum Island, this morning on the way to the refuge figuring I was going to need hot coffee (hah! little did I know!). I even called the gatehouse to say I was running late. The boatyard -- have I said before that the aforementioned coffee shop is in the boat yard? -- was very busy but less crowded than it had been a week or two ago. More boats in the water. Fewer boats on land being worked on. I think the reason the boat yard seemed less crowded was mostly that the whale watch boat was in the water. Man, I want to be on a boat. But not today. Today I do not want to be on a boat.
Equipped with coffee, binoculars, and warm clothing I drove over to the refuge listening to a story on NPR about how wearing red enhances men's chances of winning at sports. Hmm, but is red any warmer than, say, blue? Does this have anything to do with why red cars get more speeding tickets? Has the coffee woken me up yet?

On the beach with coffee in hand, I watch two guys fishing. One is wearing a green jacket and shorts. The other guy is wearing a red jacket and normal looking waders, that is, not shorts. The wind is coming in off the water and the waves are huge. I do not want to be on a boat today at all. I'm not even sure I want to be on the beach. I drink the coffee really fast so I can enjoy it before it gets cold. The trouble with that strategy is that once I've consumed the coffee, the cup is no longer useful as a hand warmer.

The waves are very big. Really most sincerely big. I definitely do not want to be on a boat today. The guy in the green jacket pulls in a striped bass too small to keep. He throws it back. The guy in the red jacket hasn't had a nibble. Four black bellied plovers forage in the wrack. I shiver despite my winter jacket. I regret having left my ear muffs in the car. I notice there are no boats out on the water. Plenty of people fishing from shore for stripers but nobody fishing from boats. No lobster boats. No whate watch boat. No Coast Guard assets. No any kind of boats. Cormorants seem to be the best at flying into the wind and the tree swallow seems to do worst at it.

I walk back and forth, moving just to keep warm. I yawn while facing into the wind. Big mistake. I get a mouthful of wrack along with the sand. It tastes salty. Like salty dried grass -- which it is along with seaweed and pieces of shell and oak leaves (yes, oak leaves) and whatever all else. At least there's no dead muskrat mixed in with it this time. I can't even imagine what dead muskrat would taste like. No plastic toy boats either. I spit it all out -- not into the wind! It takes several tries to get my mouth feeling like it's no longer stuff ed with sandy , salty straw. I turn sideways and get an earful of sand. At least that's just sand.

The guy in the green jacket has a big striper on the line. It's putting up quite a fight. The striper is pulling the guy into the closed area. I don't want to interrupt the guy when he's tryiing to land such a big fish. There are no piping plovers around and the black bellieds don't seem bothered by this. I watch the guy land the fish and only then walk over to him and remind him of the beach closure. He jokes that he wondered if I'd shoot him for going in there. I tell him they don't give us guns. I tell him I've never seen a striper this close and he gives me a better look at it. Then, to my surprise he asks where the piping plovers nest and all sorts of other questions about them. I tell him their whole little life cycle. He puts the fish up by his bait cooler and resumes fishing.

A visitor asks me if I'm with the guy in the green jacket. She wants to know why he is wearing shorts. She is wearing flip flops -- no socks. Why don't her toes freeze? I explain that no, I am not with the guy in the green jacket , rather I am the plover warden. "They make you come out here in this weather?" "Nobody's making me. I love piping plovers." Then she wants to know if it's warmer on the other side of the dunes. Meanwhile, the guy in the red jacket still hasn't had a nibble. A lone sail boat appears on the horizon -- the only one all morning. The barefoot visitor leaves. The striped bass thrashes in the sand. Some least terns fly by -- the first I've seen this season. I wonder if they'll nest on the refuge this year. The guy in the red jacket never does catch anything. Evidently wearing red does not enhance a man's chances of winning versus a striped bass.

I thaw out in the gatehouse for a few minutes before heading back to Plum Island Coffee Roasters for another cup of hot java. It's at least 10 degrees warmer in Newburyport than on the island but I'm still shivering. I blast the heat in the car the whole way home.

Todays' Bird Sightings
Plum Island
double crested cormorant 4
herring gull 6
black bellied plover 4
tree swallow 1
common tern 1
white winged scoter 1
common eider 1
least tern 3
common grackle 1
Mammals
none besides humans
Coast Guard Assets
none

Today's Reading
L'Ile Percée by John Mason Clarke

This Year's Reading
2005 Booklist

Today's Starting Pitcher
Tim Wakefield

Back to The Plover Warden Diaries

Ignore this nav-thing unless you are reading Journal of a Sabbatical

Copyright © 2005, Janet I. Egan

a mouthful of wrack, a striped bass, the universe, and everthing May 21, 2005

I stopped at Plum Island Coffee Roasters, which despite its name is not on Plum Island, this morning on the way to the refuge figuring I was going to need hot coffee (hah! little did I know!). I even called the gatehouse to say I was running late. The boatyard -- have I said before that the aforementioned coffee shop is in the boat yard? -- was very busy but less crowded than it had been a week or two ago. More boats in the water. Fewer boats on land being worked on. I think the reason the boat yard seemed less crowded was mostly that the whale watch boat was in the water. Man, I want to be on a boat. But not today. Today I do not want to be on a boat. Equipped with coffee, binoculars, and warm clothing I drove over to the refuge listening to a story on NPR about how wearing red enhances men's chances of winning at sports. Hmm, but is red any warmer than, say, blue? Does this have anything to do with why red cars get more speeding tickets? Has the coffee woken me up yet? On the beach with coffee in hand, I watch two guys fishing. One is wearing a green jacket and shorts. The other guy is wearing a red jacket and normal looking waders, that is, not shorts. The wind is coming in off the water and the waves are huge. I do not want to be on a boat today at all. I'm not even sure I want to be on the beach. I drink the coffee really fast so I can enjoy it before it gets cold. The trouble with that strategy is that once I've consumed the coffee, the cup is no longer useful as a hand warmer. The waves are very big. Really most sincerely big. I definitely do not want to be on a boat today. The guy in the green jacket pulls in a striped bass too small to keep. He throws it back. The guy in the red jacket hasn't had a nibble. Four black bellied plovers forage in the wrack. I shiver despite my winter jacket. I regret having left my ear muffs in the car. I notice there are no boats out on the water. Plenty of people fishing from shore for stripers but nobody fishing from boats. No lobster boats. No whate watch boat. No Coast Guard assets. No any kind of boats. Cormorants seem to be the best at flying into the wind and the tree swallow seems to do worst at it. I walk back and forth, moving just to keep warm. I yawn while facing into the wind. Big mistake. I get a mouthful of wrack along with the sand. It tastes salty. Like salty dried grass -- which it is along with seaweed and pieces of shell and oak leaves (yes, oak leaves) and whatever all else. At least there's no dead muskrat mixed in with it this time. I can't even imagine what dead muskrat would taste like. No plastic toy boats either. I spit it all out -- not into the wind! It takes several tries to get my mouth feeling like it's no longer stuff ed with sandy , salty straw. I turn sideways and get an earful of sand. At least that's just sand. The guy in the green jacket has a big striper on the line. It's putting up quite a fight. The striper is pulling the guy into the closed area. I don't want to interrupt the guy when he's tryiing to land such a big fish. There are no piping plovers around and the black bellieds don't seem bothered by this. I watch the guy land the fish and only then walk over to him and remind him of the beach closure. He jokes that he wondered if I'd shoot him for going in there. I tell him they don't give us guns. I tell him I've never seen a striper this close and he gives me a better look at it. Then, to my surprise he asks where the piping plovers nest and all sorts of other questions about them. I tell him their whole little life cycle. He puts the fish up by his bait cooler and resumes fishing. A visitor asks me if I'm with the guy in the green jacket. She wants to know why he is wearing shorts. She is wearing flip flops -- no socks. Why don't her toes freeze? I explain that no, I am not with the guy in the green jacket , rather I am the plover warden. "They make you come out here in this weather?" "Nobody's making me. I love piping plovers." Then she wants to know if it's warmer on the other side of the dunes. Meanwhile, the guy in the red jacket still hasn't had a nibble. A lone sail boat appears on the horizon -- the only one all morning. The barefoot visitor leaves. The striped bass thrashes in the sand. Some least terns fly by -- the first I've seen this season. I wonder if they'll nest on the refuge this year. The guy in the red jacket never does catch anything. Evidently wearing red does not enhance a man's chances of winning versus a striped bass. I thaw out in the gatehouse for a few minutes before heading back to Plum Island Coffee Roasters for another cup of hot java. It's at least 10 degrees warmer in Newburyport than on the island but I'm still shivering. I blast the heat in the car the whole way home.		Todays' Bird Sightings Plum Island double crested cormorant 4 herring gull 6 black bellied plover 4 tree swallow 1 common tern 1 white winged scoter 1 common eider 1 least tern 3 common grackle 1 Mammals none besides humans Coast Guard Assets none Today's Reading L'Ile Percée by John Mason Clarke This Year's Reading 2005 Booklist Today's Starting Pitcher Tim Wakefield
		Back to The Plover Warden Diaries Ignore this nav-thing unless you are reading Journal of a Sabbatical Copyright © 2005, Janet I. Egan