By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist
The Bahamas Flag.
Those of us who study and work with piping plovers on the breeding grounds are pretty attached to “our” plovers. In truth, piping plovers spend more than half of their time in migration or on their wintering grounds, so for our Atlantic Coast population they are as much birds of the Bahamas as they are of the U.S. and Canada.
Shorebirds are not necessarily on the radar in the Bahamas, as much as more iconic birds like the flamingo or Bahama Parrot, but the public is slowly becoming more aware of them. A major part of our project is to elevate local awareness of piping plovers and the important role the Bahamas plays in their long-term survival.
To this end, we have developed a number of products and strategies to achieve this goal: a postcard, decal, in-school programs, sister school program, public presentations, and traditional and social media exposure. Lastly, we are producing a short video about the piping plover in the Bahamas that will be shown to students, the public, and visitors. Continue reading “Plovers in Paradise”
By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist
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. Continue reading “Plovers in Paradise”
By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist
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
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
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:)
By Todd Pover, Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager and Stephanie Egger, Wildlife Biologist
Today we arrived on the island of Abaco in the Bahamas to start our piping plover project, which was made possible courtesy of a grant from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. It was mostly a travel day to for us, nonetheless, still exciting to finally be here to start a project that was has been over a year in the planning.
We will hit the ground running tomorrow with a visit to a local school, participation in a round table discussion with stakeholders on tidal flats conservation, a piping plover survey, and filming for an educational video. And that’s just the first day!
So while we still have time to catch our breath, this is a good opportunity to review the purpose of our trip here. Over the course of the past two decades, considerable resources have been put into the recovery of the Atlantic Coast population of piping plover, a federally threatened species, with most of the effort taking place on the breeding grounds in the U.S and Canada. Recent research has revealed that the vast majority of the population winters in the Bahamas. Furthermore, there is a growing realization that recovery and long-term sustainability will only occur with full life cycle conservation – protection during the breeding, migration, and wintering phases of the piping plover’s life. Continue reading “Plovers in Paradise”
