Tag Archives: Piping Plover update

JOYFUL NEWS TO SHARE! PIPING PLOVER WEEKLY UPDATE MAY 24

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Dear Friends of Gloucester Plovers!

Such great news to share – the young family at the Salt Island end, the area we call #1, has a nest with (currently) three eggs!! We’re keeping our hopes up for a fourth egg. We now have two pairs of Plovers nesting at Good Harbor.

This morning Essex Greenbelt’s Dave Rimmer and his assistant Adam Phippen installed the wire exclosure around the nest. Exclosures protect shorebird eggs from 95 percent of avian and terrestrial predators, as well as from stray balls, pets, and people walking through the symbolically roped off areas. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief once the exclosures are installed. We’re so fortunate that Dave and his Greenbelt crew make themselves available to help protect the Piping Plover nests. Thanks, too, to Gloucester’s DPW crew who are always looking our for the PiPls.

Dave and Adam installing the exclosure at Salt Island

Would you like to be a Piping Plover ambassador? You’ll join a great group of wildlife enthusiasts and kind citizens. We are having an informational meeting on Sunday, June 6th, at 5pm at Good Harbor Beach, near the nest next to the #3 boardwalk. If you would like to help keep an eye on adorable Plover chicks at Gloucester’s most popular beach,  please contact me by leaving a comment or at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com. We would love to have you!

The beautiful pale Mom PiPl and her first egg

Dad fearlessly brandishing his wings at  Dave and Adam during the installation

Dad back on the nest within two minutes after the exclosure was installed

OUR GOOD HARBOR BEACH PIPING PLOVER NEST HAS FOUR EGGS!

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Dear PiPl Friends!

Happy News! The nest at Area #3 is complete with four eggs. Based on when I think the last egg was laid, we can expect the chicks to hatch around June 8th or 9th, which is when we begin monitoring full time. The fact that they will be hatching relatively early in the season tremendously increases their chance of surviving. By the time the busiest beach days are upon us, usually beginning around the weekend of July 4th, the hatchlings will be more than three weeks old.

I ‘d like to plan a PiPl ambassador informational meeting on the weekend of the 4th -6th. I thought perhaps 5:00 on Sunday, the 6th would be a good time to meet?  Mainly we’ll discuss any questions and issues along with protocol and our non confrontational roles as ambassadors for the Plovers and representatives of the City.

Saturday morning while checking on the PiPls, a man and a woman walked onto the beach with three unleashed dogs. Fortunately an officer appeared and escorted all off the beach. Way to go Gloucester GPD!!! It takes a community to help endangered and threatened species and without the police helping to enforce the laws, it just makes it all that much harder. We are grateful to the GPD for taking the time to check on the beach and remove the scofflaws!

Dad on nest within the exclosure

Sunday morning I met ambassadors Sally and Jonathan at #3.  Dad was contentedly on the nest while all was quiet at the #2 and #1 areas. Just as we were readying to leave, the new Dad on the scene appeared, calling to the new Mom, the beautiful pale PiPl, and without wasting much time, the pair courted and mated. It was quite a thrill as it was Sally’s first time witnessing courtship and I was thrilled she was able to see!  We were standing a safe distance away, and Sally came well prepared with a strong set of binoculars.

We need volunteers to commit to fill the time periods between 1 to 2pm, 2 to 3pm, and 3 to 4pm. Also, the 9am to 12pm, although we may have someone interested in filling that spot. Are you interested in becoming a Piping Plover Ambassador but don’t see a time slot that works for you? Let me know anyway because if we have two nests, we may be doubling up during the shifts. kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com

Looking forward to PiPl days ahead!

Warmest wishes,

Kim

THREE EGGS!

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Three eggs in the Good Harbor Beach PiPl nest this morning -hoping for a fourth tomorrow!

HAPPY NEWS TO SHARE -TWO PIPING PLOVER EGGS AT GOOD HARBOR BEACH AND THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN DAVE RIMMER AND GREENBELT FOR YOUR KIND ASSISTANCE!

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Oh Happy Day! Our amazing Mom and Dad Plover have done it once again. Despite raging wave and wind storms that brought super high tides all the way to the base of the dunes, along with cold wet weather, we have a nest with two beautiful eggs!!!

The pair nesting at area #3 are our original Mom and Dad; the two have nested in nearly exactly the same spot for six years. They are super experienced parents and because it is not too late in the season and if all goes well, the chicks will be approximately 2 to 3 weeks old by July 4th, which will increase their odds of surviving exponentially.

Over the course of the next several days, we hope the pair will lay two more eggs. They will continue to mate during the egg laying period. Please do not hover by the edges of the roped off area; this only serves to disrupt the Plovers reproductive behavior and attracts gulls and crows. Thank you!This morning Dave Rimmer, Essex County Greenbelt’s director of land stewardship, along with his assistant Adam Phippen, placed the wire exclosure around the nest. Encircling the nest with an exclosure is a simple, yet extremely effective way to help protect eggs from predators, including gulls, crows, and small mammals such as skunks and foxes. The spacing between the wires of the exclosure is just large enough for PiPl parents to run in and out, but too small for most other creatures.

Papa feigning a broken wig

I was so proud of our Papa Plover during the installation. After six years of nesting at GHB, he’s familiar with the routine, but installing the exclosure is still a dramatic event for a Plover parent. Papa piped vigorously and valiantly did his broken wing display, trying  with all his tiny self to distract. At one point he fearlessly stood right next to Dave!

Within less than sixty seconds of Dave and Adam walking away from the completed installation, Papa was back on the nest!

We owe tremendous thanks to Dave and to Greenbelt. This is the sixth year in a row he and his Greenbelt crew have installed the exclosures and provided expert advice and assistance to the City of Gloucester and Piping Plover Ambassadors. Greenbelt gives this assistance absolutely free of charge!

Would you like to volunteer to be a Piping Plover Ambassador? The shifts are one hour long, seven days a week, for approximately five weeks, from the day the chicks hatch til they fledge completely. We have a great team of Ambassadors and would love to have you join. Please email me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com if you would like to volunteer. We are looking for people to commit to cover the 1 to 2pm, 2 to 3pm, and 3 to 4pm shifts. Thank you 🙂

Papa Plover back on the nest in record time!

 

PIPING PLOVER CHRONICLES CONTINUE – My what a week it’s been at Good Harbor Beach!

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Love is in the air! 

First things first though; the Good Harbor Beach Killdeer Plover family that nests every year in nearly an identical spot to the year before, hatched four perfectly healthy and vigorous chicks! Today marks their eight day old birthday and they are all four doing exceptionally well. More about this bundle of adorableness in an upcoming post.

Killdeer Plover Chicks  in dune camo

Mid-week we had a rough morning, with four dogs from the same family. The dogs not only ran through the symbolically roped off area as Mom and Dad were just about to mate, the larger of the four chased Dad. The ACO and DPW have been made aware and they are thankfully managing the situation.

We hear so much gibberish nonsense from scofflaw dog owners. This week, for example, “I thought the date was Memorial Day,” or the sign says “dogs are permitted,” or “dogs are allowed after 5pm,” and my personal favorite, “my dog is special.”

   *     *     *

Much of the week was cold and windy but on several mornings, including a slightly warmer today (Sunday), there were EIGHT Plovers! Three females and five males. We are not too concerned about all eight nesting at GHB. This influx seems to happen every year during May, which is peek migration month in Massachusetts. Many species of shorebirds arrive at GHB during May, stopping to rest and refuel before journeying further north. There were also half a dozen Black-bellied Plovers at GHB this past week and I was reminded of the May we had three Wilson’s Plovers show up one foggy morning.

The two new females that have joined the scene are easy to spot, with binoculars or a long lens. Please, please, do not stand at the edge of the roped off area with your cell phone, trying to take cell phone movies of courting and mating behavior. Hovering for long periods is incredibly disruptive to courtship behavior. Trust me, I have seen this disruption during courtship countless times and it only  serves to dramatically slow, or inhibit all together, the nesting season.

Meet our newest female – isn’t she beautiful!

Back to the new girls; they both have very faint headband and collar band markings, one is the palest I have ever seen a PiPl. I am already in love with her, she is feisty and ready for action, no fickle behavior on her part!

The three pairs, plus two odd boys out, are vying for territory. This morning there was a wildly intense smackdown between three of the boys. Repitiously charging, wing flourishing, then retreating, and as usual, no clear victor.

Piping Plover Smackdown. More smackdown photos to follow, when I have a few spare moments to look over the photos.

Dads are nest scraping along the length of the beach; note their little legs going a mile a minute.

Dear Friends, please consider making a tax deductible donation to launching my Monarch Butterfly documentary Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly for distribution to national television. For more information, go here.

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PIPING PLOVER UPDATE FROM GLORIOUS GOOD HARBOR BEACH – AND ADDRESSING SENIOR SKIP DAY

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There appear to be two pairs of Piping Plovers at Good Harbor however, after another week of super highs tides, powerful winds and heavy rain, our Piping Plover nest scrapes have all but disappeared. Saturday afternoon all four were foraging in the outgoing tide. Two are our original pair, a third is a bossy territorial male, and the fourth wasn’t on the scene long enough to tell. Late Sunday afternoon found all four huddled together behind mini hummocks and divots escaping the whipping wind.

The highest tide of the spring (on the night of April 16), the one that brought in the heap of ghost fishing gear to GHB and a dead Minke Whale to Folly Cove, went straight away up to the base of the dune.  That tide washed away all active nest scrapes.

Storm tide night of April 16th brought ghost gear to GHB and a Minke Whale to Folly Cove

The high tide on the night of April 29th , although not quite as high as the tide two weeks earlier in April, again washed away all active nest scrapes. Hopefully, the Good Harbor Beach Piping Plovers will catch some better weather in May!

Note- the above update was written Sunday evening. On this mild Monday morning, I found Mama and Papa back to courting and nest scraping! 

At several of the other beaches that I am filming at, the nests and scrapes have not been disturbed by the tides. Here you can see this beautiful nest with three eggs as it was thankfully spared.

Senior Skip Days – This past week there was reportedly a tremendous gathering of kids on Good Harbor Beach, for senior skip day. Thursday morning I was on the beach when about twenty or so arrived. We had several friendly conversations. They are good kids and were there simply to enjoy a fun day with their friends, something that we did not see much of last year because of the pandemic.

I was not in the least concerned for the safety of the Plovers. Because of the super high tides and as of this writing, there are currently no nests scrapes, no nests, and no chicks on the beach. Adult Plovers fly away if a person gets too close.

Later that afternoon, after reading the reports of hundreds of kids trashing the beach I stopped by again at GHB. There were again only about twenty kids. It had become so unpleasantly windy I didn’t stay long and can’t imagine the kids stayed much later. The following morning after another high tide there was only a smattering of cans and bottles half buried in the sand. I have to say, we see much, much worse harmful plastic pollution and garbage left behind on the beach by adults and families, especially after sporting events and parties, and of course, there is the ever present dog poop in plastic.

Party remnants after kid’s senior skip day – not great but we’ve all seen much, much worse…

such as the adult’s dog poop mess left at Wingaersheek Beach, May 1, 2021 

Our community has done a fantastic job in restricting pets from GHB, beginning April 1st, which makes the beach safer and cleaner for all. Joe Lucido and the Gloucester DPW are amazing in installing the symbolic roping to coincide with the Plovers arrival. These actions are the two most essential in helping Piping Plovers get off to a good start.

We are still in the midst of a global pandemic. So many of us have been isolated from our friends and family for many, many months. There will be tens of thousands of visitors to our shores this summer enjoying summer fun. People flock to Good Harbor Beach because they recognize it is a very special place. From daybreak til day’s end, everything about Good Harbor Beach is magnificent! The way the tides and wind change the landscape daily, the most glorious sunrises and rosy pink sunsets, views of the Twin Lighthouses, families strolling, sunbathing, surfing, kite flying, picnicking, volleyball playing, hikes to Salt Island, swimming (especially kids in the tidal creek!), dunes teaming with life, and the wild creatures attracted.

Once the chicks hatch, Plover Ambassadors will be on the beach throughout the day offering insights about the Plovers. I know we can all be tolerant and respectful towards each other and the wild creatures that find safe harbor at Good Harbor. I think it’s going to be a fantastic summer!

Piping Plover Ambassadors 2020