Thanks for posting, Frank. There’s a pay wall and the article is blocked.
Am I right to assume it has something to do with the decline in horseshoe
crab populations? I read that these were way down. It seems critical to do
more conservation work all up and down the eastern seaboard. So many good
efforts are being made. But this is definitely a major concern. On the plus
side, Milford Point is still an Audubon property. What’s going on in
Delaware and the Chesapeake area? I will try to find a way to access the
article for free.

Ellynne

On Friday, June 11, 2021, Frank Mantlik mantlik@sbcglobal.net wrote:

Just ashamed of what humanity has done to this planet.  We're watching so
much crashing around us...we've got to get louder with our government and
change our ways as a society and as a species.

Sorry so direct but this is just one more heartbreaking report...

Andrea

On Fri, Jun 11, 2021, 2:05 PM Frank Mantlik mantlik@sbcglobal.net wrote:

Speaking of changing our ways, has anyone had experience or suggest a path
forward for getting horseshoe crab harvesting banned in their town?  We
witnessed a man taking MANY horseshoe crabs from our town (Clinton) beach
the other day and feel that there is a more responsible way to get
commercial fishing bait.

Please reply offline, I don't mean to get this thread off birds and on to
crab fishing...although they are certainly linked.
Thanks,

Rob Ballinger - Clinton

On Fri, Jun 11, 2021, 9:23 PM Piping Plover pipingplover2012@gmail.com
wrote:

I took my wife down to see the Knots in late May, having not borne witness
at the Bay during Knot season since 1998 when we lived in DC.  The good
news is that seeing them (finally) converted her to birding "forever." The
bad: the largest number we saw in any location was about 25, vs. the
thousands I saw then at Slaughter Beach and Port Mahon alone.  Each day we
were down there, someone somewhere reported a flock of 100-1,000, but it
was never still there when we followed up, sometimes only hours later,
which made me wonder if, in many cases, this was the same flock flying from
beach to beach. In general, the shorebirds everywhere were *very *skittish,
perhaps because Peregrines have set up shop down there since the good old
days and because there's no longer any real safety in numbers, even for the
Semi Sands.  I've often told people wondering how endangered the Piping
Plover really is (since we're fortunate enough to see them "all the time"
here) that there are fewer than half the number of residents of Northford
remaining; it sounds like rufa, which, knowing the distinctions birds
make that are literally invisible to us, is probably a separate species
from the others, has been forced to follow the pied pipers :(

Tom de Boor
Northford

On Fri, Jun 11, 2021 at 2:04 PM Frank Mantlik mantlik@sbcglobal.net wrote: