Go Barefoot

Did some much-needed apartment cleaning, then went for a walk along the beach.

Revere Beach is undergoing a process of redunification - that is to say some grasses are growing naturally and they help support a number of small sandy hillocks. It's still a city beach though, and on a hot day like today there are hundreds of people out enjoying the sun. Nevertheless, the duney area has attracted nesting shorebirds - we have piping plovers, common terns and least terns and the area is roped off to give them a bit of peace and quiet.

I wanted to see if there were any plovers to be found, and sure enough, there were, tiny little things that can run at 90 mph (well almost). They pipe too. I was very pleased to see that there were chicks - almost as big as their parents now but still fluffy and without proper tails. They ran around very independently, doing what plovers do. No pictures though - they were much too small and far away.

After admiring the plovers, I spent a pleasant 15 minutes or so watching the terns fish - another very good sign of the improvement in environmental health of the area. When I get my 300mm fixed I should be able to get some acceptable tern shots. But the best was yet to come - a hawk-like bird that swept up the shoreline turned out to be an osprey. Anyone would think it was Florida!

No bird pictures today though. Will have to make do with people instead. It really was a very nice day at the beach.