Laura Minich Zitske <lzitske@maineaudubon.org> Feb 20 10:57AM -0800
Hi Bruce,
Thank you for your thoughts. It has been a long, bumpy road for all parties.
Maine Audubon, Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and USFWS have
been working with the town to try to come up with a solution that works for
people, pets, and wildlife. The ad-hoc committee that has been hashing out
rules to propose to the Council actually included an ornithologist
professor and a biologist- both of whom own and love dogs.
Although leashing dogs only when a plover nest is found keeps chicks safe,
it still is harmful for the birds to have off-leash dogs in the spring.
Plovers arrive on the beaches here in March-May and seek for a place to
nest. Sometimes, it will be over a month before the bird finds a good
beach, a mate, and a suitable nest site. By having dogs off-leash on
beaches in April and May, we are reducing the quality of some excellent
potential nesting spots. Plovers scoping from beach to beach stop by
Higgins, Pine Point, and Western/Ferry in the early season. They may linger
as they try to identify mates and where to stay, but off-leash dogs can
drive them away even though it would otherwise be a good site. With much of
our beaches no longer suitable for nesting plovers thanks to seawalls and
development, every stretch of sandy beach is essential to the recovery of
Maine's plover population.
If you want to know more about our 44 nesting pair of plovers or our
program, feel free to ask!
Thanks and happy birding.
Best,
Laura
Thank you, Laura. I should have contacted you before spouting off. It was incredulous to me that, according to an article in Thursday's Portland Press Herald, unleashed dogs would be allowed on the beach before 9am during the Plover breeding season. I hope that won't be the case, or that the reporter had the information wrong. I've never been afraid to speak up, but perhaps a bit of research on my part before doing so would have been best in this case.Hi Bruce,
Thank you for your thoughts. It has been a long, bumpy road for all parties.
Maine Audubon, Maine Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and USFWS have
been working with the town to try to come up with a solution that works for
people, pets, and wildlife. The ad-hoc committee that has been hashing out
rules to propose to the Council actually included an ornithologist
professor and a biologist- both of whom own and love dogs.
Although leashing dogs only when a plover nest is found keeps chicks safe,
it still is harmful for the birds to have off-leash dogs in the spring.
Plovers arrive on the beaches here in March-May and seek for a place to
nest. Sometimes, it will be over a month before the bird finds a good
beach, a mate, and a suitable nest site. By having dogs off-leash on
beaches in April and May, we are reducing the quality of some excellent
potential nesting spots. Plovers scoping from beach to beach stop by
Higgins, Pine Point, and Western/Ferry in the early season. They may linger
as they try to identify mates and where to stay, but off-leash dogs can
drive them away even though it would otherwise be a good site. With much of
our beaches no longer suitable for nesting plovers thanks to seawalls and
development, every stretch of sandy beach is essential to the recovery of
Maine's plover population.
If you want to know more about our 44 nesting pair of plovers or our
program, feel free to ask!
Thanks and happy birding.
Best,
Laura
Thanks again, and good luck with the Scarborough Beach issue,
BAB
--
Bruce Bartrug
Nobleboro, Maine, USA
bbartrug@gmail.com
www.brucebartrug.com
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing. - Albert Einstein
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