The beach drive out to Norton Point on the Vineyard’s south shore is only open for a portion of its length. The rest is closed because Oystercatchers, Piping Plovers and Least Terns have young to feed. And the beach should be closed. One of the Trustees of Reservations‘ “shorebird technicians” was headed out to make her protective rounds and told me there are something like 681 Least Tern pairs in the colony near the tidal cut into Katama Bay. That is a really nice big number of Least Terns, maybe a quarter of the state’s nesting pairs, according to the tech. We wish them all the luck they will need to fledge some youngsters. The odds are stacked against, but we can hope. We can resist recreational vehicles on the beach at the wrong time of the year. We can support the effort. [click to continue...]
