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So, we’re out. Oh joy! We pick up our dowels, jockey them into position, and head back into the broiling sun (swim? who said “swim?”) and dive-bombing terns. We came across a day or two-old chick still with its egg tooth, and more “chicks” of all stages. |
Ms. Hayes has made some significant additions to research: In 1969 she documented the effects of PCBs on the nesting population (thin egg shells and deformed chicks) and lobbied successfully to reduce environmental contaminants. She was first to discover that Roseates and Commons interbreed (the down pattern on the chicks was unusual) and that Spotted Sandpipers can be polyandrous—one female with several male partners, each on nests. Not to mention the priceless experiences she’s offered to volunteer staffers and college students over the years.
We staged for departure – 40 bags of garbage and about 30 empty red water jugs were making the trip back with us. Navigating the inadequate, too-short ladder and the rocking boat proved to be almost too much of a challenge for some of us. Luckily the “Biscuit,” a deck hand, was strong enough and big enough to provide whatever extra assistance was needed. The constant calling of the terns and Helen’s exuberant two-armed wave bade us a happy farewell as we departed into the cooling, peaceful breezes of Long Island Sound.
Salt air, intense heat, the terns’ cries, and our excitement during the visit all lent themselves to an exhilarating, but exhausting day.
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Copyright © 2004 by Joan and Richard L. Becker
