Birding Is Fun!: Piping Plovers at Maine's Reid State Park

Piping Plover, a species that is Near Threatened.

On April 11, 2014 I took my first trip to Reid State Park in Sagadahoc County, Maine. I had no idea what I would encounter there but was thrilled to find myself on the open Atlantic with rocky shores and rolling surf. I spent about three hours here exploring the beach and shore and surrounding marshes and woodlands. I was pleased and surprised to discover Piping Plovers on the beach. I took these photos over the course of those three hours with some photos taken as I initially walked down Mile Long Beach and some on my return trip as the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped as the sunset. It was a glorious day to be at the ocean and I eventually could not resist removing my shoes and running on the wet sand. You can read the whole adventure on Kathie's Birds: An Afternoon at Reid State Park. I had so many good pictures of this amazing little bird that I wanted to share more of them here.

In the course of my research I discovered that the Piping Plover is a species that is listed as Near Threatened and efforts are underway to help preserve this species and it's habitat before we lose them all together. Piping Plovers are our next to smallest plover with only the 6 1/2" Snowy Plover being smaller. In contrast, the more common and familiar plover, the Killdeer, is 10 1/2". Piping Plovers like to nest in the sand on the beach and many beaches have taken up roping off these areas so people cannot trample their nests, which are a simple depression in the sand. When I returned to Reid State Park a few weeks later I was therefore not surprised to see they had a portion of the beach roped off and signs posted to warn others to keep away from this fragile nesting habitat.