July is here, and while fewer Piping Plover nests are popping up on sandy beaches, a lot of work remains for the Coastal Birds Crew to ensure that young flightless chicks successfully fledge off Maine’s coast. Piping Plover chicks fledge or can fly short distances on the beach within 25 days of …
Plovers & Terns
2021 Piping Plover Census Smashes Last Year’s Numbers, But Not Without Its Challenges
Over 120 pairs of endangered piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) were recently counted during the annual Piping Plover Census: a combined effort led by Maine Audubon, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Maine Department of Inland Fish and Wildlife, and a diverse network of volunteers. Monitors traveled …
Tiny But Mighty: Plover Chicks Return To Southern Maine Beaches
At first glance, there is nothing cuter than a cotton ball-sized piping plover chick scurrying about the water’s edge or tumbling through tufts of dune grass. Now imagine staring at the Maine Coastal Birds Crew calendar of 65 anticipated hatch dates for piping plover nests ranging from Georgetown to …
Visiting Nesting Piping Plovers with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
Maine Audubon had the honor of visiting with some nesting Piping Plovers at Popham Beach State Park this morning with Maine's 1st District Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, updating her on our progress protecting these federally threatened shorebirds. Congresswoman Pingree has long been a champion …
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 Coastal Birds Crew 2021 season is off and running
Spring is here and that means so are the Piping Plovers and Least Terns. The 2021 Coastal Birds Crew is already hard at work scanning sandy dunes and seaweed-covered wrack lines from Georgetown to Ogunquit. Over the past few weeks, the crew’s primary focus has been surveying for Piping Plover tracks …
Endangered Species Act: What Do the Changes Mean for Maine Wildlife?
An estimated one million species of plants and animals currently face an imminent threat of extinction. Nevertheless, the Trump Administration has just issued new regulations significantly weakening our nation's most successful wildlife conservation law, the Endangered Species Act. On Thursday, …
BREAKING: New Federal Rules Gut Endangered Species Act Protections for Maine Wildlife
PRESS STATEMENT 8/12/2019 Contact: Nick Lund, Outreach and Network Manager, Maine Audubon 207.650.8739| nlund@maineaudubon.org Eliza Donoghue, Senior Policy & Advocacy Specialist, Maine Audubon 207.712.4359 | edonoghue@maineaudubon.org Laura Minch Zitske, Director, Piping Plover …
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 …