July 27, 2009 Asbury Park Press


Young piping plover fledges in Sea Girt,

can fly along beach

By GRAELYN BRASHEAR
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU
 
The piping plover chick that hatched on the borough's beach earlier this year has fledged and has been spotted flying up and down the beach.
 
Certain restrictions on beach use — including kayaking, surfing and lifeguard training — that are regularly put in place to protect the endangered nesting birds now have been lifted in the north beach area of the borough, Borough Administrator Alan C. Bunting said.
 
As always, swimming is not allowed on the north beach, Bunting noted, and the fenced area of the beach that is controlled by the state Department of Environmental Protection is still off-limits.

"Now that we've had a successful fledging of the plover, we're turning our attention to the settlement with the DEP and Fish and Wildlife," Bunting said, referring to ongoing lawsuits brought against the borough after a beach rake allegedly killed one of the endangered birds in 2007.

The borough hopes to meet with both departments next week to discuss a settlement in the case, Bunting said.
 
"We feel very good that we're going forward in the best interest of Sea Girt and its citizens," he said.
 
The DEP fined the borough $25,000 for raking an area of the beach near a plover nest, and the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife also assessed the borough a $28,000 fine. Sea Girt is still in the process of appealing the fines in court.
 
Now that the plover chick can fly away from predators and other dangers, it has a good shot at survival, said Nancy Maclearie-Hayduk, director of the Wreck Pond Watershed Association in Sea Girt and a Spring Lake Heights resident.
 
Maclearie-Hayduk led more than 100 volunteers who walked the beach daily to monitor the birds, educate the public and clean up trash all summer. She said each year, the volunteers' efforts are an important part of the birds' success on the beach. They range in age from 15 to 80, and each offers something different, she said.
 
"Monitors encounter many obstacles on the beach — cats, dogs, crows, fireworks and kites, to name a few." A young flightless plover is vulnerable to many dangers, she said, and summer crowds could spell doom for a chick. That means long hours on the beach for the scores of volunteers.
 
"This season for monitoring piping plovers was a mix of emotions, as is every season," said Maclearie-Hayduk, whose detailed field notes from the summer note that the birds' first long flight took place July 18. But the hard work pays off when the public gets excited about seeing the birds, she said. This week, two excited young boys watched through her binoculars as the plovers fed at the water's edge.
 
"That's the reward of being a monitor," she said.
 

This piping plover, which hatched in Sea Girt earlier this year, is now able to fly away from predators and other dangers. The piping plover is an endangered species. 
 

Photo by Nancy Smith

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 http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/and-then-there-were-nine-51978347.html 

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 Asbury Park Press 7-17-09 

Threatened bird's eggs gone from nest; feds

offer $4G reward

By Michelle Sahn  

SANDY HOOK — Federal officials are offering a reward for information about the possible theft of eggs from a shorebird nest here.
 

Piping plover eggs from one nest were taken and a fence protecting several other nests was damaged between 4 p.m. Monday and 11 a.m. Tuesday, according to federal authorities. Since 1985, piping plovers have been designated as "threatened," which means they face the possibility of becoming an endangered species.

 "Two eggs were incubating in the nest on Monday, and they were gone on Tuesday," Christopher Dowd of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement said in a prepared statement. "The deliberate destruction of eggs, nests and their protective fencing has to be the ultimate insult to piping plovers and the people who work to protect these small birds against threats to the continued survival of the species."

Fish and Wildlife Service special agents and National Park Service rangers are investigating, and the agencies are offering a reward of up to $4,000 for information leading to the conviction of whomever is responsible, according to Dowd.

 The shorebirds are susceptible to storm surges that wipe out their nests; development that destroys their habitat; and attacks from animals such as raccoons and foxes that are drawn to beaches by food left behind by visitors.

 The birds' nests are difficult to see because they blend well into

the sandy and rocky shoreline, and chicks are vulnerable while searching for food on the beaches before they learn to fly, experts say.

In 2008, New Jersey had 111 nesting pairs of the bird. On average, each pair produced only one chick that ultimately "fledged," or developed flight feathers, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service.

 The maximum penalty for killing a piping plover is six months in jail and a fine of up to $25,000. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agents at 908-787-1321 or the National Park Service's Sandy Hook Unit 24-hour dispatch at 732-872-5900.

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The New York Times, May10, 2009

 Volunteers Help Save Plovers

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/nyregion/new-jersey/10ploversnj.html