AHAH!

A quote i cribbed from a new journal friend in Scotland who periodically has great entries with jokes and others with quotes. the day after yet another unconvincing TV appearance i feel compelled to say that this may perhaps explain the fact of our current president:

"Our great democracies still tend to think that a stupid man is more likely to be honest than a clever man."  Bertrand Russell

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PIPING PLOVERS (Charadrius Melodus)

the little guy in the photo is a piping plover, one of our most threatened Atlantic shorebirds.  i've lived near beaches for the past twelve years, both here in Delaware and previously in Massachusetts.  in both places piping plovers and people have had clashes over beach usage.  in spring, the birds nest in shallow depressions in the sand, close to the dunes or on the beach.  the nests are almost invisible until you are right on top of them.  so, wildlife agencies close off sections of the beach where the plovers are most likely to locate their nests.  these often happen to be the same places to which human beach-goers want access:  users of beach RV's, dogwalkers, fishermen, folks who like to seek out secluded beach areas and get a little sun on skin that's usually covered on the other beaches.  the enclosures also prevent the birds' many predators: foxes, dogs, cats, skunks, raccoons, gulls, from getting to the eggs in the nest.  of all the predators, however, motorized vehicles are by far the worst.  not even Park personnel can enter the closed-off areas during this nesting and fledging period. 

here in DE thisyear things are complicated by the fact that there was a minor oil spill off the coast in March.  this could affect this year's nesting group. park staff along the coast are still cleaning up clumps of heavy oil that have washed ashore.  this is one of their more southern nesting grounds, New Jersey has significantly more, and all the federal beaches there are closed off entirely during plover season.

these little guys are on different federal lists in different places, mainly as a "threatened species," which means one that's soon likely to be endangered.  one of the more endearing traits of this bird is the action it takes to protect its nest if it is threatened:  it wanders away from the nest dragging one wing behind it as if it were broken, in order to lure the predator after it and away from the nest.  then, of course, it can safely fly away when the predator is safely distracted from the nest.

a few places to find out more about this charming shore bird: the Fish and Wildlife Service has a lot of info on this page, this guy has several pages with tons of fascinating stuff, and then - after you've made an expert of yourself by reading all this, you can go take a plover quiz here and maybe you'll score 15 out of 15.  i did!