Oystercatchers, Napatree

Indian summer is one thing, but true summer weather is quite another, so, with the temperature nudging 80, I gave up all pretense of trying to work this afternoon and, ostensibly on a mission to document bird, butterfly, and dragonfly migrants, I headed south to Watch Hill to walk the barrier beach to Napatree Point. There were lots of fellow strollers, but no one, save a wetsuit-clad kite surfer, was actually in the water, and the dunes and late-flowering Seaside Goldenrods were pretty much devoid of any insects, let alone Monarchs, Wandering Gliders, raptors, or anything else on the move. Either I'd missed migration, or the migrants had chosen other venues... like the Sox, I guess we'll have to wait until next year. But at least some of the migrating birds were still in place and taking advantage of the amazing weather. The sandbars at the Napatree lagoon were alive with American Oystercatchers working the gravel beds for tasty mollusks and crustaceans, and as the noisy birds flew from place to place, they showed no sign of Zugunruhe. Soon enough, migratory restlessness will get the better of them, but when it's this warm, life's a definite beach.