There have been a lot of crows and gulls on the beach. The baby sandpipers, unable to fly, are defenceless, save for scuttling into the tall grass or hiding under the driftwood at the top of the beach.
Within a day of the disappearance of the final surviving youngster, all the adults were gone too. Sad for us, but as a bird watching acquaintance remarked, the crows and gulls have to eat too.
It is nature’s way.
What isn’t nature’s way is what lies in the path of the migrating birds. The Gulf of Mexico awaits them, with its lethal oil slick that tired little birds will discover the hard way when they alight after their long flight. Once their feathers are coated with the deadly goo, they are doomed unless a BP executive with a tiny hostess towel appears like magic.
My bird watching acquaintance tried to reassure me that the bulk of the oil has been dispersed and maybe he’s right. It could be true. I hope so.
Only a week or so ago, the newspapers and television showed pictures of a smiling Barack Obama swimming in the Gulf with his daughter. Surely the president of the world’s only superpower of the moment wouldn’t risk his little girl in a photo op that wasn’t safe enough for a spotted sandpiper.
In the meantime, we watch them go, our fingers crossed that they will return in the spring. They are flocking together daily preparing for their voyage.
There’s a crowd of them up above right now! Wait a minute, I don’t recognize those big yellow birds. Let me get the binoculars and take a look. Let me get them in focus ... oh yes ... the big blue birds, yellow in colour. They always appear at this time of year.
School buses.
The surest sign that summer is just about over. info@ganderbeacon.ca
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