A number recent Readings have highlighted the uncanny intuition of Todd Pover, the creator of Plover Park. Well, Todd may have just unlocked a whole-new level of spooky, graduating from magician to full-on wizard. On June 15th, we had this exchange over txt:
Now, if this message had come from anyone else, I probably would have chuckled, thought “Yeah, he wishes,” or maybe just “We’ll see about that!” But this was Todd, and his ability to find nests, miles away from him, that have not even been laid yet, has been demonstrated before. And here Todd was predicting a very rare double brood. A double brood is when a piping plover successfully fledges chicks from one nest, then tries to squeeze in a second nest before migration begins.
Piping plover almost never attempt this. It’s a difficult feat to pull off. The only thing slightly more difficult is predicting one, which Todd apparently just did, because (prompted wholly by Todd’s prophesizing) I found a record-breaking fourteenth nest three days later; and it belonged to none other than Lindsey Buckingham and Goldie Sachs, who had only just fledged the first chicks of the season. It was officially the rare double brood Todd had just predicted!
And, speaking of wizards, this wasn’t the first time Lindsey Buckingham had tried this trick in Plover Park.
History has shown that in the 2023 Reading, Rulers Make Bad Lovers, I got a few things wrong about Lindsey Buckingham.
First, I said that I was glad he didn’t get one of the more regal, stately names suggested for him. But, truth is, he probably should have because he has since gone on to become the undisputed king of Plover Park.
Second, I mused that he and I were a lot alike, in that we were both “lovers”. But, as it turned out, in reality, we actually wound up kind of low-key hating each other.
OK, OK, perhaps hate is too strong a word, but we certainly find each other annoying. This is evidenced by the fact that, other than his banding photo, I don’t have a single good picture of Lindsey Buckingham despite his numerous accomplishments over the last four seasons. You can’t get anywhere near this bird (if you can even find him) and, when you do, he’s running around like an aggressive lunatic, in chaotic, obscuring vegetation, and screaming at you. Every time. It’s like he knows how to ruin a photo and delights in doing so.
Which is good, actually. Lindsey is all business. In the end, I’d much rather have him fledging chicks than posing for photos, so instead, just trust me, this bird rules Plover Park. I’m sure that even as I type this, Lindsey is somewhere in the park, aware that I’m writing about him, stomping around, annoyed by it.
But of course, despite all of that, I have reluctantly come to love him in the exact same way I reluctantly love our top-breeding female Myrtle.
He is certainly hard not to admire. He’s the father of some of our brightest stars, including the recently featured, egg-moving Abraxos. And in 2024 he pulled off the unthinkable and also hatched a very rare double brood. After successfully fledging his 2024 nest, Lindsey said “hold my beer,” and laid another one that season. Piping plover simply don’t do this. But we’re glad he did, especially since Secretariat was hatched from Lindsey’s “first” Magic Double Brood!
Clearly, Lindsey is something of a hot-shot, and a show off. And we love it.
You might remember that Lindsey, true to form, hatched the very first nest of the 2026 season. Not just in Plover Park, but in all of New Jersey, and possibly the entire coast. Lindsey and new mate Goldie Sachs have already fledged Saint Gaudens, Brasher Dubloon, and a third chick who never got banded because, as explained above, Lindsey was being a little jerk and making things extremely difficult. They should be done, and on their way to the Bahamas for the winter, but now they have their hands full with this exciting, new double brood attempt.
But trouble could be brewing. Someone might be coming for the crown.
Because just a few days ago, in the Reading Mama (Hoo Hoo) clearly brought the drama to Barnegat Light, I was suspicious that newcomers Mama Hoo Hoo and Francisco were forcing their one day old chicks to swim across rivers and climb mountains so they could pull a sneak attack on Lindsey Buckingham and take over his coveted territory.
And that’s exactly what they did.
I can’t believe the one photo I have of Lindsey Buckingham, after all these years, was taken just this weekend, and is of the great Lindsey Buckingham bowing down to Francisco and, at least temporarily, ceding some territory.
Mama Hoo Hoo and Francisco clearly mean business. But is Lindsey just playing along while he is stuck incubating the eggs in his latest Magic Double Brood nest? Will he rise again once those eggs hatch, and show Francisco & Mama Hoo Hoo that they are in over their heads?
We’ll just have to wait and see. Stay tuned.
Whatever the case, there is never a dull moment in Plover Park!
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