A Piping Plover Chick on Revere Beach

Almost miraculously, a pair of piping plovers managed to nest successfully on Revere Beach (in Revere MA) earlier this summer (2007), hatching two chicks.    A campaign was organized to protect the birds, including signs with an image of piping plovers. I became aware of the Revere Beach campaign through a posting on MassBird by Soheil Zendeh, and sent him an email congratulating him for his efforts and appending a couple of my piping plover images (from Allens Pond in Westport MA).  It turned out (the power of the internet!) that they had used my image!! (the last one below). 

In early September I stopped at the beach (on my way to visit friends in Gloucester) to look for the birds.  I happened upon Lauretta Woods, who had been one of the chief monitors of the birds for the  last few weeks.  With her help, I found the one remaining chick (the other had disappeared a few days earlier), and captured the images below.  In the meantime, the second chick has left--hopefully both will make it to their wintering grounds (mostly along the coast from the Carolinas to the Yucatan. Susannah Coronah of the New England Aquarium (scorona@neaq.org) was another of the monitors.  She and others will be organizing a drive next summer in case the plovers return.  IF YOU CARE, KEEP IN TOUCH!   

(I welcome any comments at   john@birdsbyjohn.com )     (Updated Oct. 11, 2007)

Click on an image to see a larger version, with captions

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Here I had just discovered the sign with my photograph of a piping plover parent with its chick (which I have entitled "My Little Angel"). Lauretta Woods is holding it still in the wind. Lauretta (a recent retiree from MassAudubon) had been monitoring the plovers for much of August. My first view of the chick. The chick always stayed close to the beach fencing or nearby posts. The chick always stayed close to the beach fencing or nearby posts. The chick always stayed close to the beach fencing or nearby posts. Here the chick may possibly have spied an insect higher on the post. A couple of times the chick briefly flapped its wings and hopped into the air--it seemed more like an effort to capture an insect than to try to fly. A couple of times the chick briefly flapped its wings and hopped into the air--it seemed more like an effort to capture an insect than to try to fly. A couple of times the chick briefly flapped its wings and hopped into the air--it seemed more like an effort to capture an insect than to try to fly. For the last few minutes of my stay, the chick retreated under a cluster of fencing. For the last few minutes of my stay, the chick retreated under a cluster of fencing. "My Little Angel" -- One of my favorite piping plover shots, showing a young chick with its wings up. Taken at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary (Mass Audubon) in June 2006. It was used as part of a warning sign on Revere Beach.