Pat’s Wildways: Give Wildlife a Break

It’s that time again. The weather is chilling and the shorebirds are sheltering on our beaches in huddled groups, trying to conserve energy and stay warm and out of the wind by hunkering down and hiding behind each other. When people or dogs or whatever get too close to them, they reluctantly rise up and fly to get away, and then, when the coast is clear, they settle back on the beach. But each time they do this, it costs them energy that they need to replenish by catching more fish. It’s a tiring process that is best avoided by not disturbing them.

This came to mind to me again when I recently walked on the beach from the parking lot at Fort Clinch State Park. Right before I reached the beach, I saw this sign, “Give Wildlife a Break,” that reiterates this concern. Just maybe it has educated some naive beachgoers who were unaware of this fact. And it does seem to help. There used to be many more skimmers on the beach in 2006 when I took a picture of a group of them near the then-pier.

A couple of times now, I have walked the stretch of the Fort Clinch beach from the newly repaired beach access to the old pier access – not very far, but always interesting to see the birds there in winter. On a recent cold, windy day, I saw clusters of black-backed skimmers, terns, and gulls in one group with their heads facing the wind (so their feathers don’t get blown up). Another cluster of sandpipers hunkered down nearby in a triangular formation. I didn’t stay long enough to witness this, but I’m guessing these birds trade places sometimes so that it isn’t the same one in front taking on the brunt of the wind for the others.

I curiously watched people who spotted the clustered shorebirds, and sure enough, most people did give them a wide berth. I did see one person that got too close and spooked them, but when she passed me further down the beach, I politely explained resting shorebirds to her, and now she knows. But we can’t do this everywhere. Please be careful yourself when you see groups of resting shorebirds in cold weather, and please help spread the word to others. It takes a village and the village is us!

When I wasn’t acting as “shorebird police” I did have lots of fun conversations with people walking there. One couple was happy to show me their plastic bottle with their collection of shark teeth they had just found near the jetties. Another gal was examining a sand dollar that she had just found, and together we looked at the little cilia that covered the shell but were unmoving and unresponsive when touched. This sand dollar was obviously dead. If alive, this kind visitor was planning to toss it back into the ocean. But now that the time for saving it was over she was taking it home to soak in bleach to join her collection. Perfect!

I always learn so much by talking to people wherever I go, and no more so than at our beach. I never know what I will find out, and always, when I move on, the people I encounter are happier and more knowledgeable than when I met them. Or at least it seems like this to me.

Maybe my best recent beach encounter was at the boardwalk near Slider’s, where I was lingering one dawn to take a photo of the sunrise from an angle a bit higher up. A man came toward me and when he got close I chirped, “Nice morning!” And then unexpectedly, he said, with an accent, “It’s wonderful! It’s the first time I’ve seen the ocean!” Wow! So, of course, I needed to know more.

It turns out this fellow, Dimi, was from Ukraine. He left when the war started, and in the past year or so he passed through Moldova and Italy and on to Canada. Now, he is in the United States heading for a job in Tampa. I wished him well and we went on our separate ways. You just never know who you will run into on our beaches, if only you take the time to find out!

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com