EDITORIAL: Avian history names a beach

It’s Flamingo Beach, of course.

It was merely lower-case south beach until Friday, Sept. 22, and then it made history and became Flamingo Beach.

It’s not official yet, but the phenomenon that brought national attention to the beach demands the recognition of appropriate naming by decree of the Port Washington Common Council.

The presence of five flamingos at the beach on Sept. 22 was a first in recorded avian history. A conservation biologist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources quoted in Ozaukee Press identified it as the “northern-most record for wild flamingos and the first time these birds have been sighted in Wisconsin.”

The flamingos were some 2,000 miles away from their home lands and waters in the Caribbean. Experts theorize they were caught up in hurricane Idalia, became disoriented and wandered far north in search of food.

The astonishing sight of the elegant birds, three adults in their distinctive pink plumage and two gray juveniles, wading on a shallow sand bar went viral after it was photographed and posted on the Ozaukee Press Facebook page.

People descended on the beach by the hundreds to see for themselves, which made the flamingo visit not just a historical event, but a cultural phenomenon. It has be an encouraging sign at a time when the instant gratification of electronic entertainment is irresistible to much of society that so many went out of their way to witness a vignette of nature.

The crowd itself made history as the first time ever that city police had to be called to untangle a traffic jam caused by birds. Vehicles gridlocked the streets leading to the beach.

Even without the cachet of the flamingo visit, Port Washington’s south beach has become such an important recreational resource that it deserves more than a generic name. It was surely the most popular Port Washington destination during the summer of 2023, underlining the fact that it is the finest beach on the Ozaukee County shore of Lake Michigan, pure sand nearly 150 feet wide in places, nourished by sand bars perfect for swimming and body surfing.

The beach represents a remarkable transformation from the time not long ago when it was a narrow, rocky strip mined with concrete rubble studded with rebar and unaccessible to the public. Construction of the new gas-fired power plant led to an agreement by We Energies, owner of the plant and surrounding land, to clean up the beach, provide street access and grant use of the beach to the city. Lake Michigan somehow did its part by generating an abundance of sand.

Though the popularity of the beach has been growing for years, it seems to have caught city officials by surprise, judging by some signs of neglect. The walkway from the parking lot to the beach, eroded and difficult for some people to negotiate, needs improvement. More portable restrooms are needed. Attention to the parking problem, evident in the chaotic massing of vehicles on the overwhelmed parking lot on weekends, is long overdue. A partial solution could be to designate a beach parking area on the south side of Coal Dock Park, a short walk away from the beach.

What the beach also needs is its rightful name. As an Ozaukee Press reader suggested in a letter to the editor, the name should be displayed on a prominent sign that in words and a fitting image memorializes the historical event that made the beach famous.

The image would be of flamingos, of course—because it’s Flamingo Beach.