Ausut 14, 1986 - Worse for the TernsWorse for the Terns
By PAUL STOUTENBURGH
I've just come back from a tour of
the nesting sites of least terns and
piping plovers in our area. Both these
birds nested freely here on the North
Shore in days past. Sorry to report
they are not doing well in man's
changing world. There seems to be
little place for these birds when it
comes to a choice of man or bird.
Both terns and plovers nest on the
open beaches, particularly at the
mouths of our creeks where dredge
spoil has been placed. They like open
areas devoid of grasses. The problem
is the mouths of these creeks are very
attractive to people and become recre-
ation spots, driving the birds away.
The least tern spends most of its•
winter on the shores of Venezuela and
Brazil in South America and arrives
here in May looking for nesting sites.
During May and June there is little
human activity on the beaches and
therefore the birds start to nest. But
as time moves on, people move in and
with them come dogs, off -road vehi-
cles and picnic baskets. Signs are put
up in some areas explaining the
plight of the nesting birds, but many
ignore these.
Intruders Move In
A perfect example is an area we
walked through today called Meadow
Beach. It is an ideal area for nesting
terns and plovers so I put up signs
hoping people would keep out. At the
beginning of the season we had 30
pairs of birds that looked like they
were going to nest, but as it turned
out only about eight were able to
make it through the season.
I actually found the charcoal re-
mains of a picnic fire that was placed
directly in front of one of our signs.
If there had been a fire at night and
the birds were scared off their nest,
the coolness would have killed the
eggs and if the picnic had been on a
hot sunny day, the heat from the sun
would have done them in.
Focus on
Nature
In another case, a man runs his
dogs on the beach right in front of one
of the colonies. How he can't notice
the birds screaming in the air and
dive - bombing his dog, I don't know.
There was one instance where I
asked a very nice family if they'd
mind moving to a different location
away from the nesting site. You
should have heard the father's reac-
tion as I tried to tell them about the
problems of disturbing the birds. I
think he felt ashamed in front of his
kids and finally moved.
We're becoming a nation of insensi-
tive people, people who care only
about themselves. The few who do
care are often ridiculed.
FederallyEndangered Species
The piping plover nests alone, not
in a colony like the terns. But like
the tern, it nests on the open beaches.
The nests are just hollow depressions
in the sand where their beautifully
camouflaged eggs are laid. Here
again vehicles, people and their
paraphernalia have taken over. I'm
sure if attitudes don't change for the
better we're not going to see this little
shore bird along our beaches in the
future. Surely. you must have seen
this trim little fellow running along
the water's edge almost in touch with
each breaking wave as it moved in
and out with each pulse of the sea.
It's not just people who have driven
these birds to the edge of extinction
but predators and natural phenome-
na, as well. Rats have often invaded
and destroyed the eggs of both the
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The Suffolk Tim6s /August l'4,'198fi /Pate 9A'
Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
PIPING PLOVER EGGS - -Some of our shore birds nest on the ground
on our most desirable beaches and therefore are having a difficult
time competing with man and his paraphernalia.
terns and the piping plovers. Rac-
coons are a real problem and with no
predators or coon hunts to keep the
population down, they have over-
produced, making life hazardous for
eggs as well as young on the ground.
Then there are the great storms that
flood the nesting area. All have cut
into these fragile populations.
Yet I can understand a natural
phenomenon such as a storm with its
torrential rains or flooding tides.
They have no thinking ability. We,
as humans, do possess this ability to
.think and logically work out solu-
tions. Perhaps as we keep up our edu-
cational programs and our posting of
nesting sites, the public will become
aware. We might just turn the tide so
that these birds that have nested on
our shores for so long will be able to
continue and we no longer will call
them threatened or endangered
species.
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