April 9, 2010

Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Moderate. Wind Direction: N. Tide Level: 6.0 feet.

Number of people: 3. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 3. Other Activities: 1. Beach Walk Friday morning, April 9th, 2010It was bright and sunny with a breeze from the north.We found no animal tracks on the west bank of the New River. On the beach there were the tracks of a person going both ways. We figured it was the man in a canoe we had seen earlier in the morning paddling north on the New River. There was also a single pair of tracks of an RV. We saw one group of small shore birds, numbering between fifty and one hundred, running about in the surf. But we saw no other birds on the beach, in the air, or on the water. As we walked north we met the driver of the RV, Brady, of the US Department of Agriculture. He is the predator controller and very young, under thirty I figure. He stopped and greeted us and pointed out that it was the time of year when a dog should not be on the beach. I said that the dog was only on the wet sand. He said, gently, that was fine but we should use a leash. Then he identified the flock of little shore birds as Sanderlings and showed us pictures (on his camera) of Snowy Plovers and told us there were only a hundred or so in these parts. There were lots (twenty to fifty) plastic fishing floats of various sizes ranging from the size of a tennis to large enough to fit a small person in along the beach, we carried about six back. There were plenty of broken shell parts but very few complete ones. One was the complete upper carapace of a crab and another was a sand dollar. We found three large (over six inches long) incandescent light bulbs, two with red tint on one side. We brought two back. There were also two florescent lights, one long and the other circular. We saw no jellies at all. Although the wet sand and seawater were cool the dry sand was warm under foot. The waves were small, the largest measuring just three feet crest to trough. We found no course sand along the entire walk altho’ there were occasional rocks as big as a baseball.There were two ships out at sea. There was very little kelp and no seaweed and the few pieces we did see were high up near the dunes on the dry sand. There were places on the dry sand where it had clearly been sculpted by the wind.

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Fifty to one hundred Sanderlings

Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Shells, Small rocks, Styrofoam.

None

None

We brought back about four floats and two really big light bulbs