OLD ORCHARD BEACH – Two piping plover chicks are enjoying one of Maine’s busiest beaches, alongside summer tourists.
The chicks were discovered on the beach in front of the Grand Atlantic condominiums at 207 East Grand Ave. last week by workers from Extreme Clean who were collecting trash from barrels nearby.
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Maine Audubon wildlife ecologist Laura Minich Zitske said these particular piping plovers hatched from a nesting spot on nearby Pine Point. While they can’t fly just yet, she said the birds made their way down to the site in Old Orchard Beach east of The Pier.
“It’s neat that the people who clean the beach, that they were the ones that first saw that (the chicks) had moved such a distance,” Minich Zitske said of the discovery.
Liz Copeland, a manager for Extreme Clean, said workers keep an eye out for piping plovers as they make their rounds on the beach. In accordance with a beach management agreement signed by the town in October with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the trash barrels near the site where the piping plovers were found were removed immediately.
Minich Zitske said it’s a quieter area of the beach, but the Maine Audubon roped off a section to help protect the small, sand-colored bird, which is considered a threatened species at the federal level and listed as endangered by the state.
In a 1981 survey, Maine Audubon found only 10 nesting pairs of piping plovers. Their habitat on sandy beaches had been compromised by development, beachgoers and predators — crows, gulls, skunks, foxes, dogs and cats.
Lindsay Tudor of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said plovers have slowly rebounded over the years, because of efforts to monitor and protect nests and monitor the area for potential predators. She said 33 nesting pairs have now been identified statewide.
“We saw excellent productivity the last two nesting seasons because of our increased effort,” Tudor said.
Since the chicks were found, Town Clerk Kim McLaughlin said she has received some complaints that the trash barrels were removed.
Copeland said the trash barrels are removed because the trash can attract more predators and risk the chicks’ survival. Additionally, the flightless chicks can also get trapped in the deep tracks left in the sand by vehicles that collect trash.
Assistant Town Manager Louise Reid said there was concern last Friday about fireworks planned for the Fourth of July weekend. In 2005, Ogunquit canceled its annual fireworks display, out of concern that crowds would harm four chicks nesting on Ogunquit Beach.
The fireworks went off as planned in Old Orchard Beach because they were launched far enough from the site where the piping plovers were found, Reid said. The town’s agreement with the state stipulates that fireworks launch sites be at least half a mile from the nearest nest.
Minich Zitske said the nesting season for plovers is about over. Maine Audubon will continue to monitor the growing chicks. She anticipates that the baby birds will be flying later this month.
In the meantime, she encourages people on the beach to enjoy the birds from a distance. She said adult plovers will act injured or make noise to protect the chicks, while chicks may freeze in place to blend in with the sand.
“Leave the parents alone and let them do their thing,” she said. “If you find a chick on the ground, just walk away.”
Staff Writer Emma Bouthillette can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:
ebouthillette@pressherald.com
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