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 the award on behalf of Maine […]
Plovers & Terns
Four Lessons I Learned from Working with Piping Plovers this Summer
Hello! I�m Emma Sloan, a biologist with Maine Audubon�s Plover Crew. We have spent this summer protecting the endangered Piping Plover along 22 beaches in southern Maine. As a new graduate and new resident of Maine, I have learned so much through this work. So, before the season ends, I wanted to share the lessons […]
Now hiring: seasonal staff for conservation projects
The conservation team is starting to hire seasonal staff for summer projects. Two positions are now open for applications: Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge Piping Plover Technician – southern Maine Maine Audubon is hiring a Piping Plover Technician. This is a seasonal position at Maine Audubon, to be stationed at Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge […]
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 chicks. This year, 125 […]
Big Update on a Successful Piping Plover Season!
Somehow it�s August! The piping plover breeding season is beginning to wind down, birds are taking off from Maine beaches to migrate South for the winter, and Maine Audubon�s Coastal Bird Crew is breathing a little easier. 170 young birds fledged off of beaches from Georgetown to Ogunquit is no small feat for biologists from […]
Dune Grass Habitat: Essential For More Than The Birds
I recently was surveying for some of the last piping plover chicks of the season on Old Orchard Beach when a woman approached me, pointing to the bright green runners of beach grass at my feet. “What type of grass is that?”, she asked to which I replied, “dune grass”, caught off guard by such […]
July 2021 Coastal Bird Crew Update: Chicks Are Off The Ground
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 hatching. As their […]
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 to 38 sandy beaches throughout the state to tally adult […]
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 Ogunquit. We promise those initial feelings […]