Scarboorugh is looking for volunteer beach monitors to help safeguard piping plovers on the town’s beaches. Courtesy photo
As a community, Scarborough residents tend to be very involved. Each year the Town benefits from hundreds of volunteers donating countless hours to programs designed to keep Scarborough a wonderful place to live. One of these programs is the volunteer beach monitoring program, which aims to protect the endangered piping plovers that nest on beaches each summer. Volunteers visit beaches each day from mid-May through Labor Day to educate beachgoers about the birds and the Town’s ordinances that protect them. Monitors also check on plover nests and chicks to help the Town and wildlife officials understand how the birds are doing.
Piping plovers are listed as an endangered species in Maine and a threatened species nationally. They nest on many Maine beaches from Kittery to Georgetown, but their numbers were on the decline due to habitat loss and predation from both wild animals and pets. Many coastal Maine towns work in partnership with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) and Maine Audubon to coordinate beach monitoring programs similar to Scarborough’s, and these efforts are paying off. Maine’s plover population has been on the rebound in recent years. Each year from 2018 through 2021 saw a record number of plover chicks fledge from Maine beaches. When birds fledge, it means they developed wing feathers large enough for flight, making them more likely to escape predation and other threats. According to Maine Audubon, 2021 saw a total 125 pairs of nesting plovers on Maine’s beaches and 213 chicks survived to fledge.
Volunteer beach monitors are a critical contribution to restoring Maine’s piping plover population. Town staff and wildlife officials are not able to be on Maine’s beaches all the time during the nesting season. Volunteers serve as essential eyes and ears on the beach, checking on the birds, speaking with visitors, and reporting issues to the appropriate parties when the need arises. Volunteers receive special training to learn how to identify plovers, nests, and chicks; hear about management techniques used by IF&W and Maine Audubon; understand the Town’s rules and ordinances that protect plovers; and educate beachgoers about the birds.
If you’re interested in “pitching in” as a beach monitor, please fill out the online volunteer form at tinyurl.com/plover2022. Questions about the program can be directed to Jami Fitch, Scarborough’s sustainability coordinator, at jfitch@scarboroughmaine.org or 207-730-4035.
If you’re not able to volunteer as a beach monitor, there is still plenty to be done to help piping plovers:
Keep your distance from stake and twine areas on the beach — these are areas where plovers are most likely to nest.
Avoid playing beach games near plover nests and chicks.
Avoid flying kites, surfing, biking, and flying drones within 650 feet of nesting areas.
Watch your step — plover adults and chicks blend in with the sand very well!
Fill in all holes dug on the beach.
Pick up trash and throw it away in the receptacles provided in parking areas.
Obey signs stating times when dogs are and are not allowed on beaches.
Follow the restricted area signs on beaches. Keep dogs out of the restricted areas on Higgins and Ferry/Western beaches and leashed within the restricted area on Pine Point.
Thank you for doing your part to protect Scarborough’s endangered piping plovers.
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