vineyardblues
06-07-2006, 07:38 AM
Karl,,,,, no walkin da dog !
June 7, 2006
Keep Rover home while plovers roam
By ERIC WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
It sounded like a Beach Boys song: ''We're starting to get some chicks on the beach, so things are getting a little wacky.''
However, that wasn't Brian Wilson singing, it was Carrie Phillips warning.
Phillips, chief of natural resource management at Cape Cod National Seashore, was talking about piping plovers.
To protect the threatened shorebirds, the Seashore banned pets from a section of Cape Cod Bay in Wellfleet this week.
The restriction runs from Jeremy Point north, along Great Island to Duck Harbor Beach. Leashed dogs are usually allowed to walk the beach, but Seashore officials are asking owners to keep Rover home while the plovers roam.
''We're getting into the thick of it,'' said Phillips. ''Right around now we're getting our first hatches.''
And even a normally polite dog or cat can break up a happy plover home. The pet threat is laid out in black-and-white in a new and foreboding U.S. Fish & Wildlife (USFW) pamphlet: ''Cats and Dogs and Birds on the Beach: A Deadly Combination.''
It's a gripping read, almost film-noir in feel: ''A tale of cat or dog versus bird may make an enjoyable cartoon, but the real-life version is deadly serious,'' states the pamphlet. ''Each year in this country, hundreds of millions of birds meet death in the claws of cats.''
The plover problem has been exacerbated in Wellfleet this year because the stretch of bay beach is skinnier than it has been in years past, leaving less of a buffer zone for the already skittish shorebird.
''There just plain isn't enough room out there,'' said Phillips. ''It may not be obvious if people don't go at high tide, but if they take a second and look at the wrack line, they'll see how narrow it's gotten out there.''
The good news? All this plover hubbub appears to be working. When the USFW placed the Atlantic coast piping plover (Charadrius melodus) on the federal list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in 1986, approximately 550 piping plover pairs nested along the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina. By 2005, the piping plover population had grown to more than 1,400 pairs.
And there may be a baby plover boom in Chatham this year, reported Michael Brady, refuge manager at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge.
''We do have about 13 pairs at Monomoy,'' said Berry. ''But the big story is at South Beach (Chatham); they actually have 42 pairs, which is virtually unheard of and a big chunk of the Massachusetts population.''
Brady said in 2003, 511 piping plover pairs were spotted in the Bay State.
This week, federal bird types will be out on census patrol, said Brady, counting plover pairs and eyeballing early hatching action.
''We actually have a few chicks running around, which is really early,'' said Brady.
Chicks face tough odds. While each plover nest can have up to four eggs, fewer than two chicks usually survive long enough to learn how to fly, according to USFW research, a process that takes about 30 days. During this time, plovers are vulnerable to domestic and wild animals, human interference and bad weather. By mid-September, the plovers have departed for winter grounds.
Phillips said that having a seasonal staff of ''biologists on the beach'' helped the Seashore limit beach restrictions. ''If we didn't have eyes on the beach we'd have to err on the side of the birds, and it would be more restrictive than it is now,'' she said.
Plover family activity is also affecting access to the park's oversand and off-road vehicle corridor along the backshore in Provincetown. Updated information about closures and conditions is available on the park's Off-Road Information Line, 508-487-3698.
Eric Williams can be reached at ewilliams@capecodonline.com.
June 7, 2006
Keep Rover home while plovers roam
By ERIC WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
It sounded like a Beach Boys song: ''We're starting to get some chicks on the beach, so things are getting a little wacky.''
However, that wasn't Brian Wilson singing, it was Carrie Phillips warning.
Phillips, chief of natural resource management at Cape Cod National Seashore, was talking about piping plovers.
To protect the threatened shorebirds, the Seashore banned pets from a section of Cape Cod Bay in Wellfleet this week.
The restriction runs from Jeremy Point north, along Great Island to Duck Harbor Beach. Leashed dogs are usually allowed to walk the beach, but Seashore officials are asking owners to keep Rover home while the plovers roam.
''We're getting into the thick of it,'' said Phillips. ''Right around now we're getting our first hatches.''
And even a normally polite dog or cat can break up a happy plover home. The pet threat is laid out in black-and-white in a new and foreboding U.S. Fish & Wildlife (USFW) pamphlet: ''Cats and Dogs and Birds on the Beach: A Deadly Combination.''
It's a gripping read, almost film-noir in feel: ''A tale of cat or dog versus bird may make an enjoyable cartoon, but the real-life version is deadly serious,'' states the pamphlet. ''Each year in this country, hundreds of millions of birds meet death in the claws of cats.''
The plover problem has been exacerbated in Wellfleet this year because the stretch of bay beach is skinnier than it has been in years past, leaving less of a buffer zone for the already skittish shorebird.
''There just plain isn't enough room out there,'' said Phillips. ''It may not be obvious if people don't go at high tide, but if they take a second and look at the wrack line, they'll see how narrow it's gotten out there.''
The good news? All this plover hubbub appears to be working. When the USFW placed the Atlantic coast piping plover (Charadrius melodus) on the federal list of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in 1986, approximately 550 piping plover pairs nested along the Atlantic coast from Maine to North Carolina. By 2005, the piping plover population had grown to more than 1,400 pairs.
And there may be a baby plover boom in Chatham this year, reported Michael Brady, refuge manager at Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge.
''We do have about 13 pairs at Monomoy,'' said Berry. ''But the big story is at South Beach (Chatham); they actually have 42 pairs, which is virtually unheard of and a big chunk of the Massachusetts population.''
Brady said in 2003, 511 piping plover pairs were spotted in the Bay State.
This week, federal bird types will be out on census patrol, said Brady, counting plover pairs and eyeballing early hatching action.
''We actually have a few chicks running around, which is really early,'' said Brady.
Chicks face tough odds. While each plover nest can have up to four eggs, fewer than two chicks usually survive long enough to learn how to fly, according to USFW research, a process that takes about 30 days. During this time, plovers are vulnerable to domestic and wild animals, human interference and bad weather. By mid-September, the plovers have departed for winter grounds.
Phillips said that having a seasonal staff of ''biologists on the beach'' helped the Seashore limit beach restrictions. ''If we didn't have eyes on the beach we'd have to err on the side of the birds, and it would be more restrictive than it is now,'' she said.
Plover family activity is also affecting access to the park's oversand and off-road vehicle corridor along the backshore in Provincetown. Updated information about closures and conditions is available on the park's Off-Road Information Line, 508-487-3698.
Eric Williams can be reached at ewilliams@capecodonline.com.