Shorebirds-Returning...

In these last frozen days of winter ...

                                                                       huge flock of sanderlings arriving at dusk, 

                                                                     early March, as the snow falls

it is to hard imagine that the shorebirds will return by mid-March. Usually the oystercatchers arrive on the heels of the sanderlings [sandpipers] who are arriving by the thousands daily.

                                                                                                           sanderlings

The clownish black, white and orange oystercatchers are always here by St. Paddy's Day---though this exceptionally cold winter could delay their appearance.

                                                                                                            mama oystercatcher and baby

 

                                                                                                  oystercatchers with"teenage" chicks

My favorite mallards are back too!

Swimming in colorful pairs in the vernal storm- and tide- ponds that we call swales. Mallard ducks are not ocean ducks, they are dabblers who normally frequent freshwater ponds or streams, but in recent years a small flock has made my dunes their home. Each year I wait for them to nest here--but no. Probably because the pond dries up by late summer? Or they are put off by the many humans using the summer beaches; mallards are very shy birds.

 

Sometimes they are joined by Canada geese and brants,

..though these too are a rare sight on the open ocean beach. (It's a "well-known fact" that geese love golf courses and soccer fields---green grass and open spaces.) Yet a small band waddle in each spring, many with yellow neck tags, signifying---something?

The plovers will come in April,

 

                                                                                                    piping plover on her nest

Then in June and July the terns and skimmers arrive last, stopping here at the beach to nest. No arctic trek for these guys!

                                                                              black skimmers w/ chicks

No pretty songbirds for us here at the beach but beautiful and wondrous all the same.

And, oh look how fun! a great find at HG:

 

A perfect Oystercatcher decoy.

And here's an arctic tern...in turquoise plumage, but realistic nevertheless.

                                              arctic tern & white shells/white ironstone bowl

Plus some rare treasures: authentic beach combed decoys....

a handpainted wooden black duck. And a very rare Arctic tern, also handmade, cut from wood.

So now, as the day darkens at 6 PM I set off for home with the words of one of my favorite nature writers echoing in my head:

"...when darkness lays itself down over Nantucket Sound and the ferry's horn is the last recognizable voice we hear before heading home for the last time each day./// It will be July soon enough...and long before that we will have the joys of the squeaky-hinge song of the returning red-winged blackbirds, the tinny voices of the peepers, the velvet of the pussy willow catkins, the unfurling welcome of the fiddleheads, crows and gulls in great numbers, and the osprey and marsh hawks riding the currents drifting in the ocean of air.

Spring is already here, where we have held it all winter: in our hearts. 

 Aren't her words beautiful?

North Cairn's Nature column runs [ran] every Sunday in the Cape Cod Times. 

                                                                                             treasures

love,

         

 lizzy

PS-All photos, including wildlife pix, migrating birds taken by me here at my beach.

Looks like Stormy Weather

February 24-25~
Today we had a break in the rain and snow---

                                                                                     photo: LK_thanks!

....the days are still grey and gloomy but 40 degress. With the threat of more snow and ice to arrive tonight and last through the next three days, I yet again stocked my fridge with food and cupboards with loo paper, as a friend likes to say---then hustled off for a nice long hike on the beach before the storm arrives.

                                                                                                                  photo: LK_thanks!

Only to discover that yesterday's storm bought huge waves that breached the dunes and left my own beach inaccessible. In the summer it's fine to wade through a 2 or 3 feet deep pond of coastal flooding but just too darn cold today. And gee, I didn't pack my waders. I actually had to get back into my grocery laden Jeep and drive a mile down the island to what is known as the surfing beach.

I never drive to the beach---it is usually simply there. Imagine my surprise to find the very narrow eroded and flooded beach area---

---filled with cars and the ocean with at least twenty brave---or crazy?--- surfers! I figure the air at 40* is probably warmer than the ocean. Yet there they were, in their black winter wetsuits.

There was a wild and nasty shore break going on that looked more spaghetti pot over-boils than pipeline,

but way, way further out there was a line of huge rolling waves and the guys were getting some good rides.

I am guessing the waves were created by a winter sandbar formed by the storms we've been having--the beach has to have gone somewhere, right? Because all that remained were dunes cut into cliffs and maybe 50 feet of wet sand that was being encroached upon by those turbulence onshore waves. This jetty is usually mostly buried in sand! Keep in mind, my island's beach is often a quarter mile wide/ deep ---sometimes more.
Beautiful, in its wintery way....

No treasures though, the sand swept clean and barren.

and then the snow came.....


and came.....

                                                                                                          photo: LK_thanks!

Spring will be here soon...right? Right.

Stay warm! Drive safely!

Enjoy!

love, lizzy at gone to the beach......

Convincing Spring

Convincing Spring

etsy seller:birdie1 http://www.birdie1.etsy.com/

"It was a happy thought to bring
to this dark season's frost and rime
this painted memory of spring
this dream of summertime..."


                                 John Greenleaf Whittier

Spring comes late to the beach. Think late June, just before summer barrels in for the Fourth of July---something about the ocean temperatures and gale-force winds. But by late February there are a few hopeful signs of winter's demise---the sky is still light at 6 PM and the dying sunset's shades of palest aqua and soft sweet peach could never be mistaken for the fiery skies of autumn. Instead they are perhaps the first hint of spring at the beach. 

...that and the tiny green snowdrop heads I discovered when last week's snow melted . A dear childhood memory--- watching with my mother each frozen Midwestern winter for those first green spikes to appear. She always was so thrilled and noted the event with pleasure in her diary. No daffodil shoots here though, not yet.

So during the long months of winter it is quite the challenge to convince Spring to arrive early, or perhaps just on time, in late March.

I plan ahead. In October when I shop for apples and mums, I pick up spring bulbs for winter forcing. Because it is not cold here til Christmas and because I don't like the potted bulbs in my fridge, I instead keep the bulbs in the cargo space of my Jeep to winterize them and give them the dose of cold that they need. Then in January, when the last of the tinsel and pine is swept away, when the last treasured ornament is returned to its nest---usually by Martin Luther King's birthday weekend---I retrieve the bulbs from the car, search out my bins of fake seaglass and spend an enjoyable afternoon choosing this year's containers.

Some years I use all aqua green Mason jars, other years crocks or yellowware bowls. White ironstone sugar bowls, tureens, and compotes are good too. This year I used paperwhite narcissus and blue hyacinths this year and transferware containers. I put a layer of glass or beach pebbles and seashells., then I set the bulbs gently in their places, add water, and wait.

And wait.

This year I waited so long I had to augment with tiny irises!

And an extra for my desk. I love the tiny old glass inkwell....

And I am hoping the tiny tete-a-tete daffodils will be in the grocery store soon. I love them, they are just so happy! So adorable and miniature. So, if you 'd love to convince Spring to bloom in on your sunny windowsill but you didn't plan ahead...no worries. Just check out the flower aisle at the market [Trader Joe's is a great flower resource!] and for less than 6.00 each, you too can convince spring to come early.

etsy seller:birdie1 www.birdie1.etsy.com

Here is a good link for more traditional method of forcing spring bulbs:

http://ourohio.org/home-gardens/houseplants/forcing-spring-bulbs/

 

Don't forget to snip off some forsythia and pussywillow. They'll boom in just a week or two. 

Here are a couple of links from Martha with how-to's for branches. The first link has a cool video! http://www.marthastewart.com/article/how-to-force-branches

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/forcing-basics

enjoy!