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Journal of a Sabbatical |
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August 10, 2000 |
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in which i frighten small children |
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Today's Bird Sightings: north beach 11:30 AM - 2:00 PM Today's Reading: The Sea and the Ice by Louis J. Halle Today's Starting Pitcher: off day Plum Island Bird List
Copyright © 2000, Janet I. Egan |
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I feel silly in long pants (khakis) and a long sleeved white shirt to protect myself from sun and flying biting things. Not to mention walking around with binoculars and a radio. I relieve Bob who is also dressed for bugs and sun, not soaking up rays. I joke I should have a bosun's whistle to pipe myself aboard like Roy does at the cat shelter on Wednesdays. Bob says he's had the same thought and almost bought one. Anyway, we compare notes on the mood of the visitors. We both encountered wackos last week, but Bob assures me everybody this morning has been nice, without attitude, and not noticeably strange. He also reports that he saw the least terns from the first fenced colony all fly off together this morning. The chicks hatched awhile ago, so I guess they were all ready to go. Both birding and visitor contact is pretty quiet. Sanderlings and semipalmated sandpipers seem to be traveling alone today, or a the very most in pairs. No flocks. The only birds flocking - besides the swallows swooping over the dunes in huge numbers - were the semipalmated plovers. They must be about ready to leave too. The gulls mainly hang out in the sand, taking off and returning periodically. The guys fishing pull in a couple of undersized flounder and a skate, all of which they throw back. A tan woman in a red bikini shows a towheaded little boy how to surf cast. Walkers steam past oblivious and I chase them down and explain the nesting situation. None of them seem to have ever heard of either piping plovers or least terns. Some are interested in the life cycle so I get to give the 25 cent piping plover talk. The fishing guys are a little nonplused when they see the biologists out there on the ATVs doing the survey. They want to know how come they can't walk on the beach when the biologists can drive ATVs on it. I explain that the biologists are doing the survey, they know what to look for, and so on. The biologists arrive at the boundary with news of chicks and the assessment that that lot 2 will be open by the weekend. In what seems like no time at all, the crew arrives to take down the furthest north least tern fencing (the colony the terns have left already). They tell me the maintenance guys are coming with a truck to dig up the fence and move it to lot 2. I allow as to how this is going to be a little difficult because a lot of the fence is buried under several feet of sand. It's not like they can just pull it up. A toddler runs past me into the closed area of beach. He looks to be about 2, maybe younger. A redheaded boy runs after him and the toddler runs further into the closed area. All this just as the truck is about to arrive. I can picture this kid running obliviously in front of the truck. Great, now not only do I have to worry about the birds but about the human babies. Where is this kid's mother? I look around and see she's pretty far away and has no idea the kid has run off. I run to intercept the kid before he gets too far away to hear me calling. He hears me all right and runs away in panic further into the closed area. The redhead has stooped chasing him, but now he's running away from me. I finally get ahead of him and tell him to please go back to Mommy. He looks up at me in sheer terror and starts crying. I make the mistake of trying to herd him back in the general direction of the mother. He cries more and gets worked into a state of panic. Gee, am I that scary? The redhead, being a little older, had the good sense to run away from me in the opposite direction so I don't have to round him up in the closed area. The mother finally notices this drama and shoots me a dirty look as I herd the kid back toward her. I tell her I'm really sorry, that I didn't mean to scare him, it's just that he's in danger. She picks him up and carries him around to soothe him. I don't mean to frighten small children, really I don't. What upsets me more than having frightened the kids, is that the little toddler could have run into the surf or the dunes or fallen in a hole in the period of time the mother wasn't watching him. The fishing guys were getting a little worried too. I mean it's not like the kid is home in his living room wandering around unattended. The beach is big and unfamiliar and full of people, big waves, and other hazards. Seems to me a mother ought to be more vigilant on the beach than she is at home. So the maintenance guys arrive with the truck and start digging out the fence. They're digging a hole to China they joke. I resist the urge to get pedantic and explain that if they did dig a hole all the way through to the other side of the earth they'd be somewhere in the ocean closer to Australia than China. Pretty soon one guy has dug a hole up to his shoulders. He finds the No Trespassing sign. This one-ups my rescue of one of those signs from the surf. He's dug it out of 5 feet or so of sand. He's standing in this hole with just his head sticking out and I remind him about a kid in Salisbury a couple of years ago who tried to dig a hole to China and couldn't get out - had to be rescued by the fire department. They load the fence and the signs onto the truck and head for lot 2, giving me the choice of moving down there or going home. They'll be there until at least 3:00 putting the fence and signs back up, and I'm only scheduled until 3:30. I assess how hot and tired I am and decide to take the opportunity to get a cool drink and a veggie burger at The Tannery Cafe before I drive home. I'm too tired to take anymore weed photos, so readers will have to settle for just the picture of the crew taking down the least tern fencing. |
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It's
still hot, but less humid. There's a strong breeze out of
the northwest keeping what few greenheads are still around
from pestering people on the beach. And there are people on
the beach. Tons of people. Old guys fishing. Young women
tanning (people still do that?!). Kids surfing on boogie
boards. Folks of all ages swimming in the surf. People who
should know better feeding gulls.