Watch ‘Birds of May,’ a New Documentary About Red Knots
Documentary filmmaker Jared Flesher has heard all the stereotypes about New Jersey. A resident of Hunterdon County, which he describes as "one of the most beautiful places you could be," Flesher isall too familiar with jeers that scorn his state as dirty and smelly.He knows most people looking to film a nature documentary would never go anywhere near the so-called “armpit of America.”
He also knows that they’re wrong.
New Jersey is chock-full of humans, earning it thedistinction of having thehighest population density of any U.S. state. Italso hasa relative to its size and isbiologicallydiverse. Flesher is fascinated by the ecological conflicts created by this contradiction.In , he capturedthe trouble local roads pose to salamanders by blocking themfrom the ephemeral pools where they lay eggs;in another, he describes how roads and off-road vehicles threaten snakes in thePine Barrens, a forest that stretches across the southern half of the state.In his most recent project, the documentary filmBirds of May, which you can watch above, he wanted to spotlight a feathered protagonist.
“The Red Knot has been on my list since the very beginning,” he says. “As a species, it has all the elements of a dramatic story.” The bird is charismatic and attractive, particularly in its red-breasted summer plumage, and it makes one of the longest annual migrations on Earth, flying up to 9,000 miles each way from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost reaches of the Arcticwhere the species nests. Every May, as Red Knotsmake their long trek north, they pause at Delaware Bay in southern New Jersey to refuel, gobbling down the fat-rich horseshoe crab eggs that coat the shore.
At least, that’s what’s supposed to happen. Red Knots already have to overcomenumerouschallengesonsuch a long migration, but today they also face new threats. Climate change puts the species' Arctic nesting sites at risk, and there’s trouble with their main food sourceat Delaware Bay, where in the early 2000sled to aRed Knot population crash. Since then,the subspecies that migrates through Delaware Bay , andthe crab harvest has been limited. Red Knots seem to be slowly rebounding, but conservationists are worried thatthe population is still fragile.
“As a storyteller, a species disappearing from Earth forever—that’s just about the most dramatic hook there is,” Flesher says. And as he explores in Birds of May, which was partly funded by the ,a new threat may be lurking for the far-flying birds at their New Jersey stopover site.
Increasing demand foroystershas inspired entrepreneurs to farm them in Delaware Bay. But the to seed oyster reefs directly in the shallows; the waves would wash the tiny larval mollusks away. Instead, Delaware Bay oyster farmers use hatcheries for their earliest days before anchoring elevatedracks in the bay tofinish raisingthe young shellfish—potentially blockinghorseshoe crabs ready to lay eggs and disturbing theRed Knots' migration routine.
It's not yet clear to researchershow the crabs and birdswillrespond to the oyster racks. And so the documentary, introduces the viewer to scientists and oyster farmers as they try todecide whether the new aquaculture operations aresafe for birds. No one wants to see the Red Knots disappear, but without good data, it's tricky to sort outwhat should be allowed from what might be too restrictive. “It doesn’t just come down to science, because sometimes science isn’t able to answer the question,” he says. “It comes down to values and risk tolerance.”
Flesher is pleased with the final product, although he's haunted by a scene he didn’t manage to capture on film.During hisfirst few hours on the bay with his camera gear,a Peregrine Falcon appeared overhead, and foraging Red Knots—he estimates hundreds of thebirds—scattered, forming an enormous flock thatdancedacross the sky. A biologistwho witnessed the scene with him worried about meddling with nature, andtold Flesher to stay still and leave his camera in its case.So he sat, the filmmaker side of him internally screaming whilethe rest of him watchedin awe. “As a moment of natural beauty, that’s something I’ll never forget,” he says. And it's that side of New Jersey for which he strives to be an ambassador through his films.
Flesher doesn’t rule out the possibility of a sequel, saying he’d like to film the birds at their Arctic nest sites as well. “I hope I’m not done telling stories about Red Knots,” he says. “I hope this is just the first chapter.”
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Red Knots are just one ofmany bird species that depend on the Arctic's vibrant tundra and wetlandsduring breeding season. But this pristine ecosystem could soon be threatened by new oil and gas development. .