The National Seashore area at Fort Pickens is closed. the rains have been horrible. The road out there is flooded, and there’s likely to be a lot of sand on the road as well. Park Service officials say it’ll be Friday, at the earliest, before the road might re-open.
So … I have to sit here and wait. I can’t get out there to see if my adopted Least Tern family has survived.
Last time I saw them, Monday evening, the mother had moved the nest to higher ground and farther away from the road – which is good. So maybe they’ll be okay.
Let’s hope so. I’m sure many nests have been wiped out, and many chicks lost. And rains like this can also bring down Osprey and Great Blue Heron nests too. There are three chicks each in the two Osprey nests I’m paying the most attention to this year. So now I get to worry about all of them too.
Grandfathering is tough business!
Jim McDade, Photographer 