Plight Of The Red Knot Bird Poem by Nancy Chambers

Soon it will be early Spring
Primeval stirrings urge me to take wing
On a 10,000 mile journey I must fly
To South America I bid good bye
I fly North, day after day
Till I reach the shores of the Delaware Bay
Now my strength is all gone
I can no longer fly on and on.
During the next weeks I need to feast
On the eggs of the horseshoe crab beast
I must be among the first to arrive
To eat enough eggs so I can survive
Then I’ll fly to the Arctic to breed
Built up with the food I need
There are less eggs than there used to be
Horseshoe crabs are taken by commercial fishery
I must amass weight on this spot
Without these eggs the Red Knot
Is not!