The summer solstice is upon us. This year, it falls on Sunday, June 21, also Father’s Day. Our longest day and shortest night mark the beginning of astronomical summer. Celtic traditions call for the lighting of bonfires on this night to help strengthen the sun as it begins to wane. The solstice is followed by a full moon on June 29, called the “strawberry moon” in the Farmers’ Almanac, reminding us of berry season.
Summer berries are indeed beginning to ripen in the woods and hills. The scarlet red thimbleberries of the shade-loving shrub are a sweet snack, and sunny south-facing slopes of the Inverness Ridge are sporting the first huckleberries.
Tenacious snowy plover dads watching over their nests on the Great Beach recently received an extra layer of protection, as the national seashore closed the area between the North and South Beach parking lots to pets until July 20. Snowy plover nests are small scrapes in the sand where the eggs and fledglings are tended by the males. Females move along to secondary partners and nests, a helpful strategy for this threatened species.