Tag Archives: Plover badges

FIVE IN THE FLATS – AND HAPPY THREE WEEK OLD BIRTHDAY LITTLE PEEPS!

Good morning PiPl Friends,

The GHB family of five were all in the flats this morning, foraging like nobody’s business. Both parents were very relaxed around the early morning beach walkers and joggers. The CHB three little chicklets are all doing beautifully as well. Leslie placed a double sided sign up by where this little family heads when the beach is crowded. Thank you so very much to Sally and Barbara for sharing tips and advice with Leslie!!

On Monday morning, Todd Pover, who is the senior wildlife biologist for the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey visited us at Good Harbor Beach. We are so honored to have Todd come to GHB. We were hoping to have a visit earlier in the season and I was planning to have a group of us meet Todd. But as it goes, this was last minute however, Todd did get to meet Ambassadors Maggie and Kai!

Todd heads the CWFNJ beach nesting bird project and has been involved with nesting shorebirds for nearly thirty years. Todd also leads CWFNJ Bahamas PiPl wintering grounds initiative. Years ago, Todd had a dream to restore early successional habitat at New Jersey’s Barnegat Light, habitat ideal for nesting shorebirds. Please watch this video and see how Todd’s beautiful dream project came to fruition.

Todd has recently returned from a site visit to check on Chicago’s Monty and Rose PiPls and it was interesting to get his insights on our similarities/differences. As they are at Good Harbor Beach, battles between Killdeers and PiPls are a regular occurrence at Chicago’s Michigan Lake shorebird habitat. Todd loves our signs and especially our new badges (thanking Jonathan, Duncan, and Ducan, once again a million times over for the badges). We had a great meeting and I am just so sorry it was so brief. After checking at GHB, Todd was headed over to Parker River NWR and was possibly going to stop at Cape Hedge Beach. Many thanks to Todd for taking an interest in our Cape Ann Piping Plovers!

Todd, Maggie, Nancy beachgoer, and Charlotte

Here is an image of one of the birthday chicks grabbing a Mayfly for breakfast. When I googled Mayfly-Massachusetts-beach, hoping to id what species of Mayfly, the first thing that popped up is a website on how to kill them. It’s no wonder why insect species around the world are in sharp decline, and becoming extinct at an unprecedented rate.

Anglers love Mayflies, and so do Plovers!

Last day of the heat wave. Please take care everyone.
xoKim

Mayfly life cycle -from nymph to adult, a wide range of invertebrates and vertebrates consume Mayflies

GOOD MORNING FROM PLOVER CENTRAL!

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Good Morning PiPl Friends,

All three 20 day old chicks at GHB are doing beautifully, all three eggs at Salt Island are a okay, and all three Rockport chicklets are present and accounted for. No sign of Mom at GHB this morning but that is not entirely unusual. She may leave earlier than the family, just to let our new Ambassadors know, that is somewhat normal for our Mom.

Please forgive this very hurried update and after tomorrow, Wednesday, I think things won’t be quite so hectic. We had a very special site visit yesterday by Todd Pover, Senior Wildlife Biologist for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey, and I am eager to share more about Todd and the incredible work he does for CWFNJ but will have to wait until tomorrow.

The amazing Eric Hutchins, a Rockport resident and marine habitat specialist for NOAA, is helping with the Rockport PiPls!! Many thanks to Eric, he is a rock star of Cape Ann conservation! More about Eric tomorrow as well.

If I am slow to respond to emails, tomorrow will catch up with all! Thank you for understanding.

Here is the link to register to my Monarch and climate change presentation tonight.

And in case you missed the information, the link to why the Creek is closed to recreation.

And link to the Mass for saint Peter at Saint Ann Church, held Saturday.

Have a great day, drink tons of water, and try to stay cool.
xoKim

Cape Hedge Chicklets

GHB chick wrestling with a mini mollusk

ROCKPORT’S FIRST PIPING PLOVER FAMILY IN MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED YEARS!

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Dear PiPl Friends,

This morning a new family of Piping Plovers was located at Cape Hedge Beach. The three chicks appear to be about ten days old. Over the years there have been PiPl sightings at Cape Hedge but I believe these to be the first chicks hatched in Rockport in over a century. Thank you to Susan C, Susan H, and all the people who have written to let us know.

PiPl Ambassador Heidi Wakeman put Leslie Whelan and I in touch; Leslie is Rockport’s Board of Health commissioner and we will try our best to help them get organized with some protections. The chicks are in an extremely vulnerable location. People don’t understand how much space they need. They are coming within three feet to take photos and selfies with the chicks. I have thought for a while we would be seeing chicks at Rockport beaches and have been sharing Piping Plover posts with Rockport Stuff, the town’s public facebook page, to show folks a window into the future. I just didn’t realize it would be this soon!

If we can get a mini Rockport volunteer group together I am hoping we can give them some of our badges. I have an extra sign in my car and Leslie is going to contact Seaside Graphics about using our file that they have on hand to make a few more signs. Dave Rimmer is aware of the situation and we are hoping to get some symbolic fencing up to provide them with some sort of refuge on these busy, busy beach days.

Parking at Cape Hedge is for Rockport residents only. Any Rockporters that are interested in helping please contact Leslie at lesliemwhelan@gmail.com or me at kimsithdesigns@hotmail.com. Especially, especially during these first weeks, the chicks are at their most vulnerable and most likely to die. Any help given will be most appreciated.

Our chicks are doing beautifully and have spent much of the day down at the Creek, which is still closed to the public for swimming because of high levels of bacteria. Dave installed an exclosure at the Salt Island refuge this morning.

Thank you to all our Ambassadors braving the heat. It’s totally understandable if you have to leave your shift. Just do your best, as you always do <3

xoKim

P.S. More super exciting PiPl news to share but today’s a Charlotte day and will fill you in tomorrow.

A SECOND PIPING PLOVER NEST!

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Good Morning from Plover Central!

I hope everyone saw the earlier email; all three are present and feeding in the wrack and at the flats. Mom is using her foot today but either there is a new piece of seaweed attached to the part that is still wrapped around her foot or the old piece is coming untangled (wouldn’t that be fantastic!). We’ll just keep monitoring her. I hope the family heads down to the Creek today.

In searching for the chick last night, I found a second nest, with three eggs. This is wonderful and exciting and also follows the behavior of several other pairs around the north shore whose nests were wiped out by that tide and are now renesting. This is a huge commitment on all our parts. Please let me know if you need to spend less time on the beach with our new soon to be chicks and we will try to work out a schedule suitable for everyone.

New nest at Salt island

After that king tide of May 29th wiped out the nest at the Salt Island side, I couldn’t locate the #1 pair and didn’t see any signs of renesting, and no signs of the very pale female. It was very surprising a few days ago to see theSalt Island pale Mom in the roped off area visiting at #3. The Salt Island Dad has been spotted frequently by all of us but I do not know when the first egg was laid therefore we don’t have a definite hatch day. I will try to figure out an approximate time frame and let everyone know. Joe and Dave have been alerted and hopefully the exclosure will go up tomorrow.

All that being said, this is going to be a tough one I think, hatching so late during the busiest part of the summer and so far away from the Creek. We’ll just do the very best we can.

Thanks so very much again to Jonathan, Duncan, and Duncan. The lanyard and badges are such a tremendous help!!!

Happy Sunday!
xxKim

OUR AWESOME NEW PIPING PLOVER AMBASSADOR BADGES!

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Thank you Jonathan Golding, Duncan Todd, and Duncan Hollomon for the fantastic badges.

Demonstrated by the youngest member of Team Plover. Not easy getting a three-almost-four years-old to model! The words on the flip side read Federal and State Threatened Species

HAPPY MISTY MORNING FROM PLOVERVILLE AND THANK YOU JONATHAN, DUNCAN T, AND DUNCAN H

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Good Morning PiPl Friends,

Sally and I were remarking last night how the chicks seemed to have grown overnight. The plumplings are losing their baby faces and are turning into tweens. All three were feasting in the tide flats and wrack. The tide again was high, not as high as the previous two days, and the receding water is leaving a smorgasbord in its wake. The beach is so quiet on these foggy misty days. Perhaps the peaceful time foraging has allowed them to put on extra ounces.

I only saw Mom very briefly this morning. She was not putting any weight on her right foot and there appears to be a new piece of seaweed attached. I am going to stop by later today and try to get a better look.

Jonathan arrived this morning at GHB with the most fantastic and perfect Piping Plover badges. I think he is passing the bag along to Heidi, who will pass on to either Bette Jean or Jane Marie, and so on throughout the day. A thoughtful gift for us all and so very needed. A HUGE shoutout and thank you to Jonathan for organizing and purchasing, to Duncan T for his wonderful graphic skills, and to Duncan H for helping to organize.

Heidi saw a Dogfish Shark several days ago at the Creek! I think this is the second sighting in the past week. I’ll post her video later today.

Have a great day!
xoKim

The chicks two days apart, at 14 days and 16 days old

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