July 6, 2009

Temperature: 70 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: SW. Tide Level: 0.0 feet.

Number of people: 1. Number of dogs: 1. Walking or running: 1. Found tracks of one ATV very low on wet sand, probably left by Predator Control.

Disturbances: Shorebirds moving in response to humans/dogs

Solitary gulls only.

Very few shells and crab carapices.

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Styrofoam. Four crab floats, retrieved two (other two within plover nesting areas)

None except plover nesting area posting

I removed two floats, saw two others but they were within plover nesting area so I didn't approach. Found one four by four eight feet long (soft wood) which had been in the water a while as it had numerous small shells on it, but it still looked servicable.Found tracks of one ATV very low on wet sand, probably left by Predator Control. Plover nesting areas posted and, at one spot, roped off.The sand was warm underfoot as I walked over the dunes.Beach Walk Mile 93 Monday, July 6th, 2009 It was about nine thirty when LucieAnne, my mostly bassett hound, and I made our way over the dunes, having rowed across the New River from the mouth of the Lower Fourmile Creek. The sand was warm underfoot although’ at that time the sky was mostly cloudy, populated with lots of small white puffy clouds. As we crossed the beach I noticed that once again there was a wide (fifty to one hundred feet) bench that was approximately horizontal (or even a little concave) on the ocean side of the dunes and then a sloped section (perhaps fifteen degrees) leading down to the water (also fifty to one hundred feet wide). There was course sand (size of rice up to pepples the size of golf balls) at the end of the horizontal section. But the sand on the slope down to the water was about the size of table salt. We jogged south. It was warm enough that by the time I was headed back I removed both my sweatshirt and tee shirt and was sweating. The breeze was very light and appeared to be from the southwest. The waves were again tiny, at the most two and a half feet from crest to trough. Perhaps I saw one that was three feet. Also they were short in length, most of them being just twenty or thirty feet long, altho’ I did see some as we were heading north that were longer, like a hundred feet. These were further out at the far end of the surf. There were very few (perhaps a half a dozen) shells and similar number of crab shells over the entire mile. The only seaweed was individual strands of kelp and another type, which looks a little like lettuce. The beach, down at the water line, was remarkably devoid of stuff. Besides a few (about a half a dozen) solitary sea gulls, and one or two other birds, the only life I saw were those little sand fleas, that appear to strongly prefer the other type of seaweed over the kelp. I found only two signs of human activity (besides mine): one little stretch of ATV tracks down in the water line that I suspect were left by Predator Control and numerous posts and even a rope line relating to the plovers’ nesting area. At that place the dunes had also been knocked down by a dozer sometime back. I scanned the ocean for seals but saw none. I retrieved two Styrofoam crab floats and saw two others but they were in a plover area so I left them. The only other flotsam I saw was an eight foot four by four which looked in good condition but bore quite a few small shells so it had been in the water a while. As we headed back north I heard the sound of a diesel engine and saw a yellow fishing boat heading north. I had seen one boat at sea the night before. The sky grew more blue and sunny during the course of our visit. More blue to the west and more cloudy to the east. As we rowed back up Lower Fourmile Creek a loud bird with the profile of a great blue heron but bigger and white with grey markings – a stork? – flew over us cawing like a crow but longer, lower and hoarser. I also watched two small birds like swallows or swifts fly down to the surface of the water and dip their beaks in. I wasn’t sure if they were taking a sip of water and eating an insect on the surface.