Hello there from the 2024 Coastal Birds Crew! The season is off to a busy start and everyone on the crew has been excited to dive right into work—protecting our rare beach-nesting birds. On our first day on the beaches, we headed down to Ogunquit Beach and fenced along the entire dune edge. We were met with a lovely spring day, the sun was out and shining, and as soon as we stepped onto the beach you could feel the excitement in the air as the crew prepared to protect nesting habitat and learn all about the plovers. It was hard work fencing off more than a mile of beach, but it was an incredibly rewarding experience and all the new crew members are looking forward to an outstanding summer season!
After a morning fencing the southern section of beach, we took a break for lunch—I feel I can speak freely for the crew when I say we have a new appreciation for just how hungry you can get while out in the field. After finishing up the rest of Ogunquit we then carried on to our second field experience at Wells Beach. That’s where we saw this huge buoy that washed ashore—of course it made for the perfect photo op! We did more fencing around the dunes there and some bubbles of fencing around scrapes, or practice nests. Before we knew it, it was time to pack up for the day and head back to the farm house at Maine Audubon headquarters in Falmouth.
We’ve all become a lot more acquainted with the plovers over the past week, they certainly are a determined and precocious bird despite their small size. After our time training on the beaches I can confidently say we are ready to take on this summer season! Over and out.
Pictured above is the 2024 Coastal Birds crew in front of the buoy on the north end of Wells beach. From left to right: Christie Hull, seasonal outreach coordinator; Greer Lowenstein, seasonal biologist; Thea Kastelic, seasonal field technician; Sophie Garland-Dore, seasonal field technician; Erin Campbell, seasonal biologist; Laura Williams, wildlife biologist.
