Copyright © 1999, Janet I. Egan
OK. I give in. It really is cold. I was glad to have my Icelandic sweater available for plover warden duty today. The sky loomed gray all day but I still got sunburned.
It was a slow day at the beach - although there was a group of teenagers swimming this afternoon. Some reporter from the Daily News came onto the beach and asked me about greenheads, as in are they declining in numbers and if so why. I said I hadn't seen any and if they were there today I would have known it because greenheads find me a taste treat to end all taste treats. They have Janet detecting radar to hone in on me from everywhere. Normally I'm swelling up from greenhead bites seconds after I arrive on the beach. But come to think of it, they have left me completely alone at Plum Island this summer. I did get a couple of greenhead bites at Donald & Michael's house on Salisbury beach last weekend but I haven't even seen a single greenhead on Plum Island. Go figure.
I did see lots of adult piping plovers (ok, so it was like 5 or 6 but that's more than I usually see) but no chicks. Adults and chicks alike are getting ready to migrate south. The latest survey memo I got when I came on duty today said they were starting to disperse already. I just checked my Atlas of Bird Migration but it doesn't show the piping plover's migration path. It does show the semi-palmated plover and the least tern and lots of other interesting migrations. I guess they just don't have room for everything. My Peterson's is out in the car so I can't check the range map without getting dressed. Hey, it's late - almost tomorrow already - and I made myself comfortable.
It feels odd to be thinking about the plovers leaving for the "winter" when it's only August 1. Summer is over before it even begins around here. No wonder I always feel like I missed it. Summer is racing by and I have to run to catch up with it.
I'm getting totally workaholic about enjoying summer. I must see more baseball games, swim more, get a few greenhead bites, eat more ice cream ... yeah, Gray's every night for the rest of the summer that's the ticket... and the fresh native red raspberry ice cream at Benson's ... can't have summer without that and the raspberry season is drawing to a close. Somehow, having had Benson's red raspberry 5 times since the season started doesn't seem like nearly enough. Summer doesn't seem like nearly enough. And the weirdest part of it all is the summer isn't even the best season here.
I once listed greenheads at the top of the list of reasons people should not move to Massachusetts. They beat out the traffic, the job market, and the weather. The job market has since improved (a lot) and that reporter this afternoon told me greenhead numbers are decling, so all we've gotta do to make Massachusetts a paradise is finish the Big Dig and learn to live with the weather.
Copyright © 1999, Janet I. Egan