Hello! It's mid-June and old man winter has finally lost its grip on the beach. Yesterday summer arrived with a bang. One day we're shivering in our fleece jackets, the next day it's 85 freakin' degrees.
I thought I'd melt! Poor MO,in his fur coat!
There's people on my beach. Huh. Our version of a busy summer weekend.
I suppose there is room for all without it looking like Coney Island.
The winter storms and winds did an excellent job of rebuilding the outer dunes. This area was flattened just 2 and a half years ago.
The fake dunes are compacting and leveling. Grasses are starting to grow.
Sadly the show of the endangered birds is very scanty this year. I don't know if they were killed off by the harsh winter? [they do fly south and should have missed it.] Or if they were put off by the aggressive shore leveling and sand raking by the giant trucks which invade each April, just when the birds are arriving and nest locale hunting.
Only 4 plover cages on the entire many miles of beach. Down from 17 nests maybe 8 years ago.
3 sets of oystercatchers only. That makes me sad as they're my favorites.
No terns! Which is --well, I hate them and they hate me, they're attack birds...but they're endangered and tiny and beautiful. In their own mean ways. [Arctic terns, least terns]
And on the beach, no black skimmers. At one point, again 8 -10 years ago, they came in flocks numbering in the thousands. Oddly I found this little flock of them, plus a couple OCs [far right], huddled on the blacktop at the dog park. And I saw a couple of the tiny mean Arctic terns in a pond there too, along with a few black ducks.
Not what they once were. I hope in years to come the birds' numbers recover.
PS Mo is enjoying his little quilt. But he ate his best bed. :-(
love
lizzy
gone to the beach.
PPS on a quilty note: Today was Flag Day! I stuck out all my little flags on the deck rail.
Temecula Quilt Company has the cutest little patchwork flag , a free pattern. here
I'd love to get one made by Fourth of July. [or wouldn't it make a sweet little patriotic mini quilt, maybe 6 of the little flags?]
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Hooray summer? It was probably humid too wasn't it? Ick. I love that you're such a student of the birds in your neck of the woods. Hoping their numbers increase in the coming years. Things are always changing aren't they. Well...stay cool :) Enjoy the rest of the week.
ReplyDeleteKel
thank goodness it s rainy today! I need time to acclimate to the heat and sun. Yes of course the humidity was in the 90%. That s when I think I ll just melt into a miserable blob,lol. Ocean is lovely and brisk tho. "chill out, dude."
ReplyDeleteSounds like our weather! I tend to avoid going outside on really hot humid days, and do my running on cloudy or slightly cooler days...I don't like the humidity, either. It wouldn't be quite so bad but apparently Wal-Mart has turned their thermostats up this summer - both ones I've been in lately have been miserably warm (83F, I have a temperature app on my phone) and muggy. Not fun to even do the necessity shopping much less browse! When skinny teens are walking around sweating and pink-faced from heat you know it's too warm inside!
ReplyDeleteMo, Mo...! I think you maybe shoulda named him Bob...!!!
Maybe next year more of your beach birds will be back, once the dunes are closer to what they once were. We can hope.