Saturday, March 27, 2010

Piping Plover Day at Breezy Point Queens NY…

Piping Plover
On Sunday, 15 volunteers joined Bio technician and Plover Project leader, Tony Luscombe, of the National Park Service at Breezy Point in Queens NY. We were there to volunteer at the Piping Plover nesting site - a day where volunteers and rangers set out to demarcate the nesting area designated for Piping Plover, Terns and Skimmers.

Volunteer with nesting sign.

Volunteers working together.

The task was a pretty simple one; all that was required was some dedicated time and willingness to walk the beach to string the markers and put up the nest signs. We had an enthusiastic group and in about 2 hours the nesting area was setup.

Nesting area defined - now we wait for the nesting birds.

Those volunteers who did not help with this assignment worked on debris removal from the beach. This was only one part of the volunteering. Some of us will be monitoring the nest sites once they are established. Last year, I participated in monitoring new born Plover chicks for the first few days and this year I will do the same, joining other volunteers, working in shifts to cover nest sites. Hopefully, we have good numbers to report later in the year.

Oystercatchers share the beach with the Piping Plovers.

Tony and Bill from the National Park Service GNRA.

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1 comment:

Spencer said...

That reminds me of Platte River, near where I vacation in Michigan, where they also block off Plover nesting sites. Looks like a great blog; I'm glad I found it!