Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Abaco’

Plovers in Paradise

Sunday, November 10th, 2013

The Bahamas Blog – Trip 1, Day 6

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist

Piping Plovers on exposed limestone shore in the Bahamas

Piping Plovers on exposed limestone shore in the Bahamas.

Today was a down day from a field research perspective, a chance to recharge. That said, our minds were still working – we are already thinking about what’s next for the project and planning our return trip early next year.

As we knew coming in, and now we both know firsthand, logistics are the toughest part of piping plover research here in the Bahamas. With hundreds of islands, cays, flats, and miles of shoreline to survey, many of them inaccessible, just getting to some of the sites is half the battle. Throw in unfavorable weather issues (i.e. wind and rain), a van or boat that doesn’t start, a survey that takes much longer to complete than anticipated…and well you get the picture.

And as we previously mentioned, piping plovers use different types of habitat here in the Bahamas and it is highly tide dependent – it is critical to be at the tidal flats at low tide, otherwise there are no flats or birds to see. Likewise, you need to be at roost locations at mid or high tide or all you’ll see are tracks in the sand to tease you. (more…)

Plovers in Paradise

Saturday, November 9th, 2013

The Bahamas Blog – Trip 1, Day 5

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and  Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist

Piping Plovers Bahamas_General Presentation

CWFNJ’s presentation at Friends of the Environment to the local Abaconian community on November 7, 2013.

Last night we presented for the Abaconian community at Friends of the Environment’s office on the international link of piping plovers between the Bahamas and the United States, draft results from the 2011 International Piping Plover Census, and the importance of the Bahamas to piping plovers. We had a decent turnout including David Knowles from the Bahamas National Trust and a writer from the local Abaco newspaper.  We spoke at length with Abaco’s premier birder, Woody Bracey, who has helped with on the ground coordination for piping plover surveys over the last several years.  We hope to work with Woody and other Abaconians to develop a citizen scientist network to survey sites that we have been unable to get to because of time or logistics (i.e. tide cycle, transportation to the site) and to have the network securely in place for the 2016 International Census. (more…)

Plovers in Paradise

Thursday, November 7th, 2013

The Bahamas Blog – Trip 1, Day 4

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist

No piping plovers, but plenty of rain!

No piping plovers, but plenty of rain!

Today was a reality check – a reminder that not every day of the project can be a highlight reel. There was work from other projects to catch up on. We had a public presentation in the evening on the importance of the Bahamas for piping plovers and we had to finish prepping for that. The van needed to be gassed up and the biologists need fuel too so a trip to the grocery store was in order. And finally, it was pouring rain all morning.

Luckily, the sun peaked out mid-day, so we headed to Treasure Cay, a popular planned community and resort north of Marsh Harbor. On the surface the long beautiful crescent beach provided perfectly suitable habitat for piping plovers. However, expectations were not particularly high for a sighting because there is not a well established history of plovers at the site. And as it turned out, no piping plovers were found today. But determining both where birds are and aren’t present is an equally important part of the scientific and conservation process. (more…)

Plovers in Paradise

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013

The Bahamas Blog – Trip 1, Day 3

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist

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Todd Pover posing next to CWFNJ Bahamas Plover-mobile

Today we hit the road in search of piping plovers in the Bahamas. We covered several sites in the southern half of Abaco between Marsh Harbor and Sandy Point. First up was the beach near Crossing Rocks. We stood a moderate chance of seeing plovers there as either tracks or birds had been detected on surveys in recent years.

As we stepped out on the ocean facing beach, which looked very similar to one we might see in New Jersey (discounting the palm trees and turquoise water), we saw another familiar sight in the distance; a flock of tiny shorebirds racing up and down with the incoming waves. Classic sanderling behavior. Except they weren’t sanderlings – they were piping plovers. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty…can there really be fifty piping plovers here? The final tally came in at 53 piping plovers…the mother lode and more than we had ever seen in one place!

One of the most striking parts of this discovery was the type of habitat where this many birds

The pathway to the plover mother lode! (Crossing Rocks, Abaco)

The pathway to the plover mother lode!
Crossing Rocks, Abaco

were found. It was not on a tidal flat such as on Green Turtle Cay, which was the case yesterday, and appears to be more typical in the Bahamas for large flocks. We found them at mid-tide; some were resting on the upper beach, but many were foraging at the water’s edge. We obviously still have a great deal to learn about what type of habitat piping plovers use in the Bahamas and what influence tidal stage has on that use.

The rest of the day was bound to be a letdown after our first survey, but that wasn’t really the case. We made it to the southern end of the island (Sandy Point) where we were greeted by expansive shallow water flats. We missed peak low tide so didn’t really attempt a full survey – this was recon for our return trip in January or for local volunteers to survey.

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Stephanie Egger, CWFNJ, surveying for piping plovers at Casuarina Point

Last on the plover checklist for the day was Casuarina Point, a known piping plover site on Abaco. We hit it right at the low tide as the sun was getting ready to set. We had to wade out to the flats – they were loaded with shorebirds, mostly sanderlings this time, but another 17 piping plovers, as well. Of course, it isn’t really just about the numbers, but we were still a pretty pumped about the results. The first two days of the trip have exceeded our expectations.

Plovers in Paradise

Tuesday, November 5th, 2013

The Bahamas Blog – Trip 1, Day 2

By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist

Meeting with Amy Roberts Primary School and Friends of the Environment

Meeting with Amy Roberts Primary School and Friends of the Environment

Today was our first official work day on Abaco, Bahamas as we spent ALL of yesterday traveling. But, today’s lineup included a meeting with our sister school, Amy Roberts Primary School on Green Turtle Cay, presenting a program to children in grades 3-6, a field visit to the tidal flats with Friends of the Environment and Loggerhead Productions, filming with Loggerhead Productions, and finally an informal meeting with the some bonefishermen and Friends of the Environment on tidal flat conservation.

Although we accomplished a lot in one day, the majority of the day was focused on

Todd Pover, CWFNJ, presenting at Amy Roberts Primary School

Todd Pover, CWFNJ, presenting at Amy Roberts Primary School

working with the school teachers and children.  We had a great morning presenting to the students and engaging them in discussions on the different aspects of the piping plover on the their breeding grounds in the U.S. and the wintering grounds in the Bahamas and demonstrating how important the Bahamas is to the life cycle of the piping plover. The teachers were very enthusiastic about incorporating the piping plover into the children’s curriculum and the sister school program.  The children in grades 3 and 4 at Amy Roberts will be part of a sister school program with an elementary school back at home in Ocean City, New Jersey.  The sister school program includes in-school presentations from CWFNJ to both of these schools, a poster/interpretive sign project, a field trip to observe piping plovers, and communication between the teachers and the students using social media and other means to discuss not only piping plovers, but just the similarities and differences in our respective cultures.

Stephanie Egger, CWFNJ, and a student at Amy Roberts Primary School

Stephanie Egger, CWFNJ, and a student at Amy Roberts Primary School

The day started out with rough seas as we made a ferry crossing from mainland Abaco to Green Turtle Cay, but it was smooth sailing for our project the rest of the day. We are feeling very enthusiastic about the project, in part because of the warm welcome we have received here. Now we see why our plovers like the Bahamas so much:)