The Winter Beach

Winter Beach

It isn’t winter quite yet, but on the coast you can feel “old man” winter coming.  The days are short now; the nights long, and the wind lives in the north. And some dawns are below freezing.

Harrier hawks glide over the salt marshes. While 30 yards to sea, loons ride low in the waves, some of them still in their summer clothes. Migrants from the north, they rarely call on the coast, but when they they do their haunting voices carry. Out farther, another visitor circles high – flocks of gannets. Their huge silhouettes and plummeting dives are easy to spot. They are the most magnificent marine birds of the northern coast; and another sure sign that winter is near.

Striped bass and bluefish still patrol the Rhode Island rim, but the “bite” has been poor. Yet there is reason for hope. Some bass are still as far north as Boston. So the season may just be late this year. Who knows? Perhaps the surf will offer up its rewards come Thanksgiving.

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