A question we have been getting a lot with the heavy storms pummeling Maine’s coastlines this winter: How will the Piping Plovers manage the upcoming nesting season with the beaches so damaged? What a great question! Finally, fellow plover biologist Laura Williams and I were able to get away from …
piping plovers
Summer Summary: Record breeding plover pairs but lower fledgling numbers
Another summer, another record-breaking year: For the sixth consecutive season, in 2023 we saw a record high number of breeding pairs of Piping Plovers on Maine beaches. Maine was home to 157 breeding pairs this nesting season, with some pairs nesting in places never before occupied or that had been …
Plover Party spreads good cheer and great care
Thanks to all the folks who joined our Coastal Birds Crew at Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth for a plover party last week, especially to special guest Beacon, the Maine Mariners mascot! Also a big shout out to the rangers and staff at the state park, and to our new group of volunteers …
Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce Names Maine Audubon Nonprofit Organization of the Year
The work of Maine Audubon’s Coastal Birds Crew was in the spotlight last month as the Old Orchard Beach Chamber of Commerce named Maine Audubon the Nonprofit Organization of the Year at a ceremony on October 12. Coastal Birds Project Director Laura Minich Zitske and Biologist Laura Williams accepted …
Piping Plovers: Record-breaking numbers don’t tell the whole story
One possible headline for a story about the 2021 Piping Plover season could be “Endangered Birds Break Records on Maine Beaches in 2021.” That wouldn’t be wrong, and yes, there would be much to celebrate. More Piping Plover pairs than ever before fledged chicks. In 2020, 98 plover pairs fledged 199 …
It’s Mayhem: Maine Audubon is busting out all over
In the same way that blossoms started to unfurl and migratory birds began to appear, so too did restless Maine Audubon staffers, tentative at first, and then all at once in a glorious riot of activity. May was the busiest month we’ve seen in ages, in terms of our interaction with the public. …
The New Age of the Piping Plover: Record Numbers Nesting on Maine Beaches in 2019
OLD ORCHARD BEACH – While the Pier and Palace Playland, the Seaside Pavilion, and other summer venues eagerly make arrangements to commemorate the Fourth of July weekend with flocks of revelers, another more delicate variety of beach-goers also attends to peak season preparations. A pair of six-inch …
Piping Plover Party Pays Off as Party-goers Play, Peruse, Participate
Maine Audubon's first-ever Piping Plover Party took place on Saturday at the Ferry Beach Retreat & Conference Center in Saco. Over 100 people turned out to support our Coastal Birds Program, learn about these remarkable birds, and have fun both indoors and out! From bird walks on the beach …
Is the Endangered Species Act an endangered species?
As a biologist and the director of Maine Audubon's Coastal Birds Project, I see first-hand how essential the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) is for protecting our most at-risk flora and fauna. The Piping Plover is listed as a threatened species under the ESA. As a listed species, that means …