“Lots of plovers fledged this week! We now have 25 fledges from 13 broods. If you recall the highly evolved plovers that nested inside a lobster trap, they fledged a chick as well! There are at least 18 chicks from 9 broods still on the beach, some of which are close to flying, while others just hatched this week. Least terns started fledging as well (I’ve seen about 10 fledglings), although their numbers are dwindling. A few still have nests. While terns continue to nest, the fall shorebird migration is also beginning. Southward-bound piping plovers and sanderlings are trickling onto the beach, and least sandpipers, yellowlegs, and others are moving into the marsh.”

© Evan Lipton, Macaulay Library