Lessons from Coastal Stewardship: The Power of Noticing

In a world that is becoming increasingly more digitalized, where people find joy in other people's experiences through a screen and connect to nature using the next trend that appears on our social media feed, it is easy to assume that people today have become desensitized to nature. However, we shouldn’t equate ignorance with incompetence. When people see birds on the beach, it’s similar to seeing leaf litter in the fall; it’s normal. They may not consider that both leaves and birds have important roles in the environment. However, when we add a sign or create a posted area, this sends a signal to the brain that something here is important, and that can be impactful.

Being a young Gen Z adult, I am often asked by my volunteers what drew me to birds. For me, my interest really started when someone told me that the Wood Stork's name was derived from its neck sharing a similar appearance to bark. This wasn’t a crazy fun fact, but it opened my brain to noticing the song of a Northern Cardinal, the dance of a Reddish Egret, and the unique existence of bird species in general.

This realization echoes into my interactions with beachgoers. When I am approached with an opportunity to educate individuals on the seabirds and shorebirds that are nesting at Three Rooker Island, there’s a common response: “Wow, I come here every summer and never notice those birds.” For many, recognizing something new begins with education.

An example: Tides in early June led to a total overwash of Black Skimmer nests on north Three Rooker, a very small barrier island that decreases in size every year. It’s devastating to see the colony struggle so much this season because of natural tide fluctuations and human disturbances. Though the Black Skimmers have not given up, and that is partially because of human impact.

Following that unusually high tide, the original posted area was knocked down, and no longer a viable resting spot for the colony. The birds found a new area that had no PVC pipes, twine, flagging tape, or foot traffic. People were far too busy walking the shoreline in search of shells to notice the birds that rested on the vegetation line, though they did flush the ones relaxing near the water.

I posted the area, and instantly, more people took notice of the birds with the beautiful beak that reminded them of toucans. When people came up to ask what was going on, I told them that the Black Skimmers were trying to nest after experiencing a recent failure. Once they realized how the birds needed space and time to rest, they shifted their behavior. The same individuals I saw walk through the group of Black Skimmers that were in their path while shell searching, now decided to walk around them.

Observing the seabirds and shorebirds is a pivotal part of my role as stewardship coordinator, but what I found most rewarding was seeing how education leads to recognition and to subconsciously treating birds as something important. We may be quick to decide that someone’s actions toward resting birds are done out of indifference. Instead, we should consider the possibility that an individual was never educated about the importance of sharing the shore.