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July 20, 2000
vol. 30, no. 224
For more information contact Stephen Schilly at 302-739-4405 or Alice
Doolittle at 302-653-2882.
SECTION OF BEACH AT CAPE HENLOPEN STATE PARK RE-OPENS
AS PIPING PLOVERS TAKE FLIGHT
Three piping plover chicks at Cape Henlopen State Park have fledged,
prompting park officials to re-open a section of beach at Gordons Pond
to surf-fishing vehicles and pedestrians this week.
The three young birds are the offspring of two pairs of piping plovers
that nested in the Gordons Pond area. Piping plovers are federally protected
as a threatened species, and are listed as endangered in Delaware. Only
three pairs nested in the state this year, down from four pairs in 1999.
Lisa Kendall, who monitors beach-nesting birds for the Nongame and
Endangered Species Program, has been tracking the progress of Delaware’s
plovers since April. She breathed a sigh of relief when she first saw
one of the chicks take flight.
“The chicks can run and feed on the beach right after they hatch,”
said Kendall. “But their parents have to protect them for about
four weeks until they learn to fly.”
Because the young plovers are now able to get out of harm’s way
on their own, the beach in front of Gordons Pond was re-opened on July
19 to surf-fishing vehicles and pedestrians. The section of beach has
been closed since May 15, shortly after the first plover nest of the
year was found.
A third piping plover pair nested at the Point of Cape Henlopen in
Cape Henlopen State Park, and produced two chicks that survived to fledging.
The beach at the Point of Cape Henlopen, which has been closed since
March 1, will remain closed at this time. The Point provides habitat
not only for beach-nesting birds, but also for migrating shorebirds
that stop to feed there on their way north in the spring and on their
return south in the late summer and early fall. The ocean side of the
Point will re-open on September 1, while the beach on the bay side will
re-open on October 1.
The three piping plover pairs nesting in Delaware this year and the
five fledglings they produced represent a slight decline from 1999,
when four pairs fledged six young. But DNREC officials are pleased with
the plovers’ nesting success this year.
“We look at the number of fledglings per nesting pair to evaluate
productivity,” said Alice Doolittle, Nongame and Endangered Species
Program biologist. “The number this year – 1.7 fledglings
per nesting pair – is the highest productivity we’ve seen
in Delaware since 1995.”
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Document no. 40-01/00/07/21
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