Back to the Beach 03/24/2011
 Dunlin, winter plumage. (Photo by author) It's Day One of this season's shorebird survey at Two Mile, and again I'm taking over for Heidi while she spends a couple weeks doing some more habitat restoration work in the Gulf. Not exactly Spring-like on the beach: 42 degrees, a cold northeast wind, clouds and mist. But I have the beach to myself, which is the way I like it. Well, myself and hundreds upon hundreds of sandpipers and dunlin, maybe 1300 or so by my estimated count, traveling north up the beach in flocks of a 25-100 birds, briefly lighting near the foam to feed for a bit, then taking off en masse to move a couple hundred yards before settling down again. It really is an impressive number of shorebirds and it emphasizes the importance of protecting this beach. A group of five Piping Plovers manage to appear through the mist, separating themselves from the mob of other shorebirds by wandering up onto the dryer sand and drift line, poking through the dead phrag for bugs, maybe looking for a nice spot to settle down and raise a family. From one bird I see a brief ruffling of feathers, a half-hearted feint at another, maybe a preliminary practice mating move, and a few small, faint whistled "peeps" and one "peep-lo." Even with the north wind in my ears I can pick this sound out. Winter plumage Dunlin are pretty nondescript birds but still easily separated from Sanderlings by their longer, down-curved bill and darker over-all color. WHen feeding, the two species seem to share the same niche; when they fly, they often separate themselves by species. Now is a good time for you to come to the beach and learn these two birds. There will be plenty of them here for at least the next few weeks I think. And here's one thing I've learned about the Piping Plover: if I'm looking down the beach and see a shorebird, it's pretty certain that it's not a PIPL. Only when they separate themselves from the flock and start moving higher on the dry sand can you pick them out. It's always something I seem to see out of the corner of my eye, a bird that looks just a little different from the rest of the throng. A few Red-throated Loons float offshore, beginning to show a little breeding color, and a couple of Ruddy Turnstones add to the fun.  Sanderling. Notice the shorter, straighter bill, lighter overall color. (Photo by author) Add Comment Piping Plover Patrol 04/09/2010
 Do you see the Piping Plover? (photo: USFWS) Refuge Biologist Heidi Hanlon has once again asked me to help out with her annual Piping Plover Survey at Two Mile Beach as she traveled to Massachusetts for a conference this week. Of course I jumped at the chance. I stood in for her for a couple of weeks last year also and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The Two Mile beach was closed to the public on April 1, so apart from an occasional scofflaw, I have the beach to myself. How many people, particularly in New Jersey, can ever make that claim, especially during this most beach-worthy season? Piping Plovers return to their nesting areas along the coast in late March and early April. Heidi's survey involves walking from the north boundary of the Refuge beach (at the southern end of Wildwood Crest), down the Coast Guard beach and all the way to the Cape May inlet jetty. See plovers, watch plovers, count plovers. Try to make them feel at home! The problem with Plover counting is finding them. They have this uncanny ability to become invisible. You can be looking right at one and not see it unless it decides to move. They tend to hang out near large flocks of sanderlings on the wet sand at the water's edge, but generally a bit further away from the water. The ratio of Sanderling to Plover on the Two Mile beach recently has been about 500 to 1. But just when I would about give up finding a Plover, one would appear, as if my magic. Here are summaries of my plover surveys so far: March 26: five Plovers observed feeding in the wet sand in front of the north observation platform. This is a good start! It's still hasn't started to warm up and the plovers are back. March 30: No Plovers observed. Pooh. It's rainy and windy and I chalk it up to bad weather. I'm sure there are Plovers here; they just chose to go unobserved today. April 2: Jackpot. 18 Plovers observed! 15 were on the FWS beach; the remaining 3 were on the Coast Guard beach. And there was evidence of "scrapes" (false or trial nests) being made in the dry sand where plovers like to nest. The temp has risen to the low 50's. Things are looking great for a nest somewhere on the beach. April 5: A warm, sunny day. Lots of Plover tracks in the dry sand high on the beach, where Plovers like to nest. No Plovers on the FWS beach, but 9 were hanging out at the Coast Guard beach, feeding, wandering around, maybe house-hunting? April 6: No Plovers observed. :( However, a pair of Oystercatchers was hanging around the FWS beach, looking nest-ish, making scrapes up on the dune about where they nested last year. They are amazing birds and fun to watch. April 8: Today the southwest wind was blowing almost 30mph, so it was a struggle even walking on the beach. And for the first hour, all I could see were Sanderlings, and even they were difficult. Hard to hold the binocs steady, sand blowing into my eyes, my ears, my boots, everywhere. But finally, the Plovers appeared: three pairs and one single, all on the FWS beach, close to the "overwash area" that has been built for them by Heidi and Jack. Seven Plovers, hiding behind any patch of dune grass or wrack they could find to get out of the howling wind. I'm glad I decided to stick it out today, even though I'm still digging sand out of my ears. Heidi returns today, so I'll be off duty for a couple of weeks. But she has another trip planned later in the month so I'll be back, hopefully monitoring nests and chicks! Here are some other birds I saw while doing the surveys: OCEAN/BEACH: -Red-throated Loon -Common Loon -Glossy Ibis (flyover) -Double-crested Cormorant -Cooper's Hawk -Purple Sandpipers -Long-tailed Ducks (Oldsquaws) -Northern Gannets -Forsters terns -Black Scoters BACK BAY/OCEAN DRIVE PONDS: -Belted Kingfisher -Green-wing Teal -Blue-wing Teal -Greater Yellowlegs -Red-breasted mergansers -Black Ducks -Great Egret -Mute Swan |  Birds &
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