Here's our 2008 ESP Diary. Latest entries first. Check back for updates!
August 8
Miamogue Pt
One chick and one adult PIPL seen feeding near the shoreline near the curve in the beach.
No LETEs seen nor heard but tehre were two royal terns flying about.
Jamesport Beach
No PIPLs seen or heard.
About 30 LETEs seen flying or inside the fence. Two were on scrapes. One chick was seen inside the fence.
Jim Romansky
July 28
Fledged Piping Plover Summary:
So far this year, a total of nine Piping Plover chicks have fledged on North Fork Audubon monitored sites. These nine chicks were fledged at three different sites, with each site producing three chicks. The first site to produce fledged chicks this season was Mattituck Inlet. The chicks at this site were seen flying as early as July 7th. A few days later, on July 11th, three fledged chicks were seen at Conkling Point in Greenport. This was followed by three more fledged chicks at the Corey Creek site in Southold on July 22nd. Unfledged chicks are still present at certain sites as well. The numbers of unfledged chicks are as follows: Little Creek (2), Miamogue Point (1), Mattituck Inlet (2), and Goldsmithʼs Inlet (Kenneyʼs Beach) (3). Three more unfledged chicks were seen at the Hallockʼs Pond site as late as July 23rd, but these chicks have not been seen since.
John Brush
July 14
Today is the first day that I have not seen any Piping Plovers near the Kenneys Beach nesting site. I am worried that the chicks may not have made it. Two adults and two chicks were last seen at this site on Friday 7/11. My hope is that they were hiding in the vegetation to find shade and that I will be able to relocate them on my next visit.
John Brush
July 14
Miamogue Pt.
One PIPL on the nest in the exclosure.
Jamesport Beach
30-40 LETEs flying , none on the ground due to a dog being walked, by the water. It was on a leash. When they settled down 18 birds were seen sitting on scrapes.
No PIPLs seen or heard.
Jim Romansky
July 8
The first Common Tern nest of the season was found today at Mattituck Inlet (Breakwater Beach). This nest is located just outside of the current string fencing. I will visit the site tomorrow morning to make the appropriate fencing adjustments. I have seen both Common and Roseate Terns at this site previously, but none of them appeared to be nesting.
John Brush
July 1
There is now a small Least Tern Colony at Gull Pond in Greenport. A total of 9 Least Terns (4 of which had nests) were seen in the easternmost cell of string fencing. Common and Roseate Terns were also observed foraging over the water. A single Piping Plover was on the beach near the middle cell of fencing, though it was not showing any behavior that would indicate that a nest was nearby. The cell of fencing closest to the jetty was empty and will be taken down next week.
John Brush
June 27
Unfortunately, the pair of Piping Plovers at Richmond Creek has not been seen since losing their nest on June 13th. This nest was presumed to be predated, probably by American Crows. Occasionally, a PIPL is seen feeding at the Richmond Creek point, but I suspect that this is just one of the Corey Creek plovers crossing the inlet to feed.
John Brush
June 22
Today, I received a report from one of our monitors that Piping Plover chicks have hatched at Corey Creek in Southold. These birds nested further east down the beach than last year. Hopefully, this more remote location will allow them to raise their young without much disturbance.
John Brush
June 20
Here's a photo of the Meadow Beach clutch.
John Brush
June 17
Last Friday, we received a report of Piping Plovers being seen on Bailie's Beach in Mattituck. Piping Plovers are currently nesting at Breakwater Beach (on the other side of Mattituck Inlet) but we had not seen any plovers on the Bailie's Beach side until this report. I checked the Bailie's Beach area immediately after hearing this report, but unfortunately did not find any plovers. I checked the area again today and saw one plover in flight, flying across the inlet from the Bailie's side to the Breakwater side. It is possible that the plovers may only be coming across the inlet to feed, but we will keep a close eye on this area in the coming weeks anyway.
John Brush
June 13
Jamesport Beach
20 LETEs on scrapes and about 20 birds in the air, along the beach and inside the fence. One bird was offering bait to another near the water.
The onlt PIPL seen was the one on the nest.
I got fertilized by a flying LETE!
Miamogue Pt
One adult PIPL seen with the chick near the waterline about 75 feet north of the SW corner of the fence. They ran into the fence area.
No LETEs seen nor heard.
Jim Romansky
June 9
Today, we exclosed a 4 egg nest on the public side of the Little Creek site in Cutchogue (Nassau Point Causeway). This is a re-nest from a previous nest at the same location that did not result in any fledged chicks. The exclosure itself was completed without a hitch; however, the adult PIPL seemed apprehensive of this new change to their environment. One adult would enter the exclosure, sit quickly on the eggs, but would not settle down to incubate. This behavior was witnessed numerous times. After waiting about ten minutes, one of the adults finally decided to settle in atop the eggs. Needless to say, it was a very long ten minutes.
John Brush
June 5
Today, while surveying the area from Goldsmith Inlet to Horton’s Point, a small of group of monitors found a Piping Plover nest at Kenney’s Beach in Southold. Since this is a popular bathing beach during the summer months, we have concerns about the safety of these birds. A string fence should be put up immediately in the area surrounding the nest. We will also try to take great care in not fencing too much of the beach that it angers the public. Sometimes it is a fine line that you have to walk…
John Brush
June 2
It appears that the second pair of Piping Plovers at Mattituck Inlet (the pair that had previously abandoned their nest) has now re-nested. Tim Bohen and I found a 1-egg nest at this site this afternoon. We have plans to exclose the nest sometime early next week. Also, I am happy to report that all four chicks from the other pair of Piping Plovers at Mattituck Inlet are alive and well. They were last seen (with both adults) a few hundred yards west of the string fencing.
John Brush
May 30
Miamogue Pt:
The 2 adult PIPL were changing brooding inside the fence near the exclosure, but nearer to the fence. Three or four chicks were present---hard to tell since they were going in and out from under the parents.
One LETE was calling as it flew overhead.
Jamesport Beach:
At first one parent was seen with three chicks near the snow fence on the east side. I assume they were from Nest Two.
The chicks were outside the snow fence walking towards the vollyball nets. When I approached they went back inside the snow fence. Later, after checking on Nest One (west), both parents were seen with 4 chicks walking between two people, in beach chairs, that were about 25' apart. They were about 15" from the shoreline. The bird seemed to have come down from the volleyball area.
A single adult was seen near Nest One (west) it ran aound inside the string fence, then outside. It ran and flew around me outside the fence. Twice it did the broken wing act and then sat in a scrape. (The same scrape both times) Perhaps it is trying to renest. The scrape is located a little to the east of the old nest and almost in line with the big log.
About 30 LETEs were seen inside the string fence, flying and sitting near Nest One, but at the shoreline. About 8 birds were sitting on scrapes and one pair was courting next to each other inside the fence.
Jim Romansky
May 27
The re-nest on the private side of Little Creek now has a complete clutch (4 eggs). Because these birds would not take to the exclosure constructed around their first nest, we will not attempt to exclose this second nest. We have, however, put a cell of string fencing around the nest to prevent people and dogs from entering the area. Let’s cross our fingers that predators such as crows, raccoons, and gulls do not find the nest.
John Brush
May 13
We pre-fenced Meadow Beach in Cutchogue today based on reports of 3 piping plover and two possible scrapes. One piping plover seen while installing the fence.
Carolyn Spilman
May 13
Today at Richmond Creek, I found my most interesting sighting of the season: a recently exclosed piping plover nest one foot OUTSIDE of the exclosure. No evidence at all of a nest remained inside the exclosure. Two days earlier, I had surveyed the same site and witnessed a bird, just as it should be, incubating inside the exclosure. How did this happen? As of now, we are looking at two possible scenarios: Either the bird lost its nest and re-nested outside of the exclosure or because of an impending high tide, the bird physically rolled its eggs outside the exclosure to move them further away from the water.
John Brush
May 12
Miamogue Pt.
One piping plover incubating, the other not seen nor heard. One least tern seen.
Jamesport Beach
These birds are very skittish and they run off when I'm only as close as 50'. I doubt they will be successful if the beach becomes busier.
Nest One- One PIPL off the nest-probably feeding then returned. The other bird not seen. Upon walking back after checking the other nest the PIPL on the nest was gone.
Nest Two- One PIPL standing near the string fence.
Three LETEs seen.
Jim Romansky
May 8
Today while monitoring eastern side of Little Creek, I discovered that a recent high tide had swept away one of the plover nests. No evidence of the nest remained. Thankfully, a pair of piping plovers was still in the area. They were observed scraping in an area that is higher above the high tide line than their original nesting site. Hopefully, they will re-nest soon.
John Brush
May 6
Jamesport Beach
No birds seen at first on or near nest one. A bird pipes from nest two and a bird from nest one piped back. I proceeded to nest two and again no bird incubating. Then one was seen trying to distract me. Second bird was never seen. I proceeded back to nest one and the two birds came from the back of the string fence and tried to distract me. I walked to the eastern corner of the string fence to observe and a bird started to incubate nest one.
Miamogue Pt.
One bird seen incubating the other not seen nor heard.
Jim Romansky
May 4
Jamesport Beach
Update from later in the day:
Bev Prentice found the second (four egg) nest that I thought was there when I checked this morning but couldn't find.
Jim Romansky
May 4
Miamogue Pt
One bird sitting on the nest- an exclosure is needed. The second bird was heard very far down the beach but not seen.
The high tide line was inside the string fence by as much as 8 feet.
Jamesport Beach
Bird One ran up, from feeding, into the string fence where it was met by Bird Two. Bird Three came running in to meet the pair. Bird One went to meet Bird Three but there was no confrontation. Bird Two went to Bird Three and they both went further into the protected area. Bird One went back to feeding. One of the pair was sitting on the nest the other bird was not seen nor heard again. Could there be a second nest? I could not find one.
An exclosure is needed.
Jim Romansky
April Summary
This had been a very busy month for the piping plovers of the North Fork, and busy as well for the NFAS monitors. We are trying to keep track of the birds' arrival, courtship and nesting. So far, every site which had nesting birds in 2007 has at least some plovers this year, although not all have nested (yet). In addition, our new site at Hallockville boasts a 4 egg nest.
We are monitoring Piping Plover nests in Riverhead at Jamesport Town Beach, Miamogue and Hallockville. Southold sites with plovers, nests or not, include Conkling Point, Cutchogue Harbor, Gull Pond, Nassau Point Causeway and Richmond Creek.
If you have seen Piping Plovers at other spots, or owuld like to join our monitoring crew please let me know, at tbohen@optonline.net. Least Terns will be here soon.
Tim Bohen
April 30
Miamogue Pt.
One pair of Plovers was seen feeding at the shore line at the big turn in the beach.
Jamesport Beach
One pair was seen at the very east end of the beach sitting at the moon high tide line. They were on private property where the sand ends and the bulkhead starts, in front of the houses. No birds were seen in the string fence area nor further west on the public beach.
Jim & Sandy Romansky
April 27
4 piping plovers feeding along the wrack line at South Harbor Park.
John Sep
April 26
4 piping plovers feeding at Cedar Beach near the osprey nest on the point.
John Sep
April 26
Miamogue Pt.
One pair of plovers was heard then seen together near the middle of the curve in the beach. They quickly worked their way into the string fence and stayed near each other, about 50 feet south of last year's nest site.
Jamesport Beach
A single bird was inside the string fence about 20 feet west of pair one's nest. It called twice but I never saw any other plovers.
Jim Romansky
April 25
The first piping plover nest of the year, a four egg nest, was discovered this afternoon by Rick Kedenburg at the playground at Little Creek (aka/ Nassau Point Causeway).
I spoke with DEC and Chip Hamilton has arranged for an exclosure crew for early Monday morning. Anyone wising to assist or observe this process is welcome, but please don't disturb the new mother's incubation.
This is almost exactly the site of last year's nest, which was also last year's first nest, but not discovered until 5/1.
Tim Bohen
April 19
4 piping plovers at Cedar Beach. 2 on the mud flats and 2 on the barrier beach.
John Sep
April 5
4 piping plovers at Cedar Beach. 2 males and 2 females and probably paired up already. Two certainly are as the female called and ran right to one male as I approached.
John Sep
April 4
1 piping plover feeding along the wrack line at Nassau Point Causeway Beach in Cutchogue.
2 piping plovers preening at South Harbor Park in Southold.
John Sep
March 30
4 piping plovers on the mud flats at Cedar Beach.
John Sep