Dear PiPl Friends,
Sunday morning when I set out to film it was only 7 degrees – one minute filming followed by several back in my mittens. It’s just so hard to tear away with so many exquisite creatures in our midst! Last week I wrote about the Common Goldeneye visiting our shores and the Killdeer that has been here all winter. They are mostly gorging on readily available food; the Goldeneye deep diving for pond vegetation and the Killdeer scouring the landscape for tiny mollusks and insects found in the seaweed. 
I was utterly delighted to come across another bird not usually seen at this time of year. We startled each other. I was looking for the Killdeer but first sighting was of a plumped-out, short-legged little shorebird, the Ruddy Turnstone. He was at rest and as soon we noticed each other, he began foraging in the fashion for which turnstones are named, that of flipping over stones in search of food.
Ruddy Turnstones are great distance migrators, some traveling more than 6,500 miles between breeding and non-breeding grounds. Just as with Piping Plovers, males typically arrive first. They are very territorial at their nesting grounds. The females depart when the Turnstone chicks are only abut a week or so old, leaving the males alone to rear the chicks.
I wonder how long the Ruddy Turnstone will stay. I think his presence indicates the northward spring migration for birds traveling the greatest distance is underway. I didn’t recognize him at first because he was not in breeding plumage but his bright orange legs gave a good clue. The photo below, taken a few years ago, is what Rudy Turnstones look like when we see them towards the end of the summer on their southward migration.
Ruddy Turnstone, August 2019
The Northern Lapwing pictured below has been hanging out along the Rhode Island coast and the southern coast of Massachusetts. He is way, way off course. When I write off course, that is an understatement. Northern Lapwings are common throughout Eurosiberia and their southern range includes North Africa, northern India, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of China. But every few years we who live in southeastern Canada and New England are fortunate to see one.
Lapwings are most often seen foraging inland at agricultural fields. Luckily, the day I spotted the Lapwing, he was flying around and landing on rocks in the intertidal zone. He was a bit too far off for my cameras nonetheless, you can see how striking is his plumage and crest (the long wispy plumes protruding from the back of his head). Males reportedly have longer plumes than do females. When the sun hit his wings the iridescent colors shone beautifully. It was worth it standing in Arctic-like conditions to document this rare plover beauty.
Northern Lapwings are a species of plover and as with many species of plovers, their population is in decline.
Avian flu is taking a deadly toll in Massachusetts, mostly on the southern coast and Greater Boston area. For the most recent report from the State, go here: https://www.mass.gov/news/state-officials-provide-updated-guidance-on-suspected-avian-flu-cases-reported-across-massachusetts.
Link to form to report dead wild birds: https://www.mass.gov/forms/report-observations-of-dead-wild-birds
We have good news to share for our Plover documentary – we received the Gold Award at the Spotlight Documentary Film Festival! And our film recently aired to an enthusiastic audience at the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia.
Stay well.
Warmest wishes,
xxKim
With deepest gratitude and appreciation to all who are contributing to The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay. We could not continue to bring the story of these valiant little birds to film festivals and public television without your kind and generous help. Thank you!
With gratitude to the following PiPl friends for their kind contributions – Jane Alexander (Nova Scotia), Cornelius Hauck (Cincinnati), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), New England BioLabs (Ipswich), Cape Ann Garden Club, Brace Cove Foundation (Gloucester), JH Foundation/Fifth Third Bank (Ohio), Janis and John Bell (Gloucester), Jennie Meyer (Gloucester), Alice and David Gardner (Beverly), JoeAnn Hart (Gloucester), Lauren Mercadante (New Hampshire), Kim Tieger (Manchester), Joanne Hurd (Gloucester), Holly Niperus (Phoenix), Bill Girolamo (Melrose), Claudia Bermudez (Gloucester), Paula and Alexa Niziak (Rockport), Todd Pover (Springfield), Cynthia Dunn (Gloucester), Nancy Mattern (Albuquerque), Marion Frost (Ipswich), Cecile Christianson (Peabody), Sally Jackson (Gloucester), Donna Poirier Connerty (Gloucester), Mary Rhinelander (Gloucester), Jane Hazzard (Georgetown), Duncan Holloman (Gloucester), Karen Blandino (Rockport), Duncan Todd (Lexington), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Amy Hauck-Kalti (Ohio), JoAnn Souza (Newburyport), Karen Thompson (San Francisco), Carolyn Mostello (Rhode Island), Susan Pollack (Gloucester), Peggy O’Malley (Gloucester), Hilda Santos (Gloucester), Maggie Debbie (Gloucester), Sandy Barry (Gloucester), The Massachusetts Daughters of the American Revolution, Mary Keys (Madeira, Ohio), Barbara Boudreau (Gloucester), Suki Augusti, Jonathan and Sally Golding (Gloucester), Sue Winslow (Gloucester), Cecile Christensen (Peabody), Marty and Russ Coleman (Dallas, Texas), David Brooks (Troy, Michigan), Karen Maslow (Gloucester), Lisa Craig (Winchester), Menotomy Bird Club (Winchester), Lyda Kuth (Belmont), Kimberly Bouris (Gloucester), and my sweet husband Tom 🙂
