Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Least Terns

Even though the time between posts here has been growing longer and longer, I've not yet given up hope that this is something that I will come back to regularly updating again. I simply have not had it in me to write, and as much as I want to share pics, I feel like this might become a bit boring to some. Nevertheless, here are some pics I took recently at Sandy Point, which is the public beach at the south end of Parker River NWR on Plum Island. This is a pretty well know spot for nesting Least Terns and Piping Plovers, and the photo ops can be pretty good, assuming that you are able to read behavior, and know when you are not stressing the birds. The terns, interestingly enough did have some chicks, yet there were also several 'nests' (scrapes in the sand really) that had eggs with parents who were doing their dutiful best to incubate them while still keeping predators at bay (beach-walkers.) Unfortunately, many of these nests were beyond the boundaries that were set up to help protect the nesting birds, so unsuspecting beach-goers who aren't paying attention could potentially destroy a nest. I certainly hope that has not happened, and that the protective areas have been extended to include these additional nests.