back to the beach

The beach at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge closes on April 1st each year for the piping plover nesting season, remaining closed until the birds are done with it. Both endangered piping plovers and least terns nest on this very narrow beach. The birds deal with encroaching tides and wildlife; they don't need the feet of humans targeting them as well.

On August 18th a small section of beach reopened to people. The sections of beach from parking lot 2 to the north and from parking lot 7 to the south is now open. While that is a relatively small section of beach it was enough to pull me to the coast for a walk yesterday. I arrived about an hour before low tide, a good target time for walking.

The beach is highly sloped from parking lot 1, with the slope easing as I walked to the south. I walked on both sections of open beach, a wonderful return to a favorite spot for walking.

Thank you birds!