Piping Plover Walk With The Urban Park Rangers

On July 12th, I went on a NYC Audubon, "Piping Plover" walk with the Urban Park Rangers.   This was a very special walk, as we were given a tour of the Piping Plover nesting site, which runs from beach 35th to 89th street.  The ride on the A train was pretty quick to beach 58St. and then the walk to the boardwalk was just a couple of blocks.  Once there, the rangers gave us a briefing on the walk and of the plight of the Piping Plover, which is listed as an endangered species.

The area, was discovered as a Piping Plover nesting site in 1996 by a birder named, Don Davis.  Today, it is surrounded by symbolic fencing with orange tags as markers and signs warning beach goers to stay out of the area.  During the walk, our Urban Ranger Guides indicated that currently, there are 17 nesting pairs at that location.  We also learned that the Rangers look for a black spot that shows up on the rear of the female Piping Plover, when she is about to lay eggs.  This helps the rangers to track those females who are nesting.  Typically, a nest consist of 4 eggs that are laid 6-8 hours apart and take about 25 days to hatch.

Sadly, we also learned about many of the factors that contribute to the decline of the Piping Plovers including, over development of coastal habitat, human disturbance, pets, predation (from the likes of raccoons, skunks, foxes) and storm tides.  The Urban Park Rangers through walks like this have engaged in educating the public on how to protect the Piping Plover.  They also distribute literature that describes the plight of the Piping Plover and how best we can help them.  For more information on the Piping Plover visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.