Best spot to look at plovers

If there's a better beach in Massachusetts than Crane Beach, we don't know what it is -- four miles of white sand and extreme tides (they cover and uncover hundreds of feet in a six-hour cycle). But it's not simply sun, sand, and water that keeps us returning, but the piping plovers, tiny shore birds who protect their nests (little more than indentations in the sand) from both seagulls and nosy humans with their shrieking, dive-bombing displays. The Trustees of Reservations -- a private, nonprofit Massachusetts conservation group that manages thousands of acres, including Crane -- monitors the progress of these endangered birds and the passage of each season by posting statistics on a board by the bathhouse: from the number of nesting pairs at the beginning of the summer to the number of fledglings at midseason to a final tally of fledged chicks. By September 8 of this year, 24 out of 35 pairs of birds had produced fledglings, for a total of 71 chicks, up from 59 in 1997. The beach also posts sightings of other wildlife. This year there was a great horned owl fledgling, an immature bald eagle, 250 bank swallows nestled into the dunes closest to the water, and, in the parking lot, a coyote with four cubs. The beach offers shore-bird hikes and nature walks most weekends (recommended for "experienced birders and beginners").

Crane Wildlife Refuge and Crane Beach, Argilla Road near Castle Hill, Ipswich, (978) 356-4354; Trustees of Reservations, 572 Essex Street, Beverly, (978) 921-1944.