Birds Canada ready to protect plover nest sites as soon as Sauble reopens

Birds Canada staff will be ready to put protections around any piping plover nests at Sauble Beach as soon as the sandy shoreline is reopened to public access.

Andrea Gress, the organization’s Ontario piping plover program co-ordinator, said exclosures – which are placed over nests to shield them from predators like gulls – and perimeter fencing – which is installed to keep beachgoers a safe distance away from the nests – are being stored at Sauble Falls Provincial Park.

“Once Sauble reopens, we’ll get out there as fast as we can and find the nests and set up the protections like we normally do,” she said in an interview.

This is the time of year when the endangered shorebirds usually begin nesting, she said.

Birds Canada is aware of three nests in Ontario so far.

The local Plover Lovers group, a committee of Stewardship Grey Bruce, says three plovers were spotted on Sauble Beach by South Bruce Peninsula staff while the town was performing maintenance on the beach earlier this spring.

But since the beach is closed, the group is not sure how many of the birds there actually are at Sauble or whether there are any nests yet.

The provincial government ordered the closure of outdoor recreational amenities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Signs, posted by South Bruce Peninsula, alert people that Sauble Beach is closed to the public.

Grey-Bruce medical officer of health Dr. Ian Arra ordered late last week the closure of all municipally managed beaches in the region.

As a result of beach closures, all provincial and local efforts to monitor and protect the piping plovers at Sauble Beach were suspended until further notice.

Birds Canada, which leads Ontario’s piping plover conservation program, has suspended its fieldwork, which includes putting wire exclosures over the birds’ nests to protect the incubating adults and eggs from predators and installing perimeter fencing.

Gress said Sauble Beach will be a top priority for Birds Canada once beaches reopen, as it’s a historical nesting site for plovers.

However, with the closure in place and no people on the beach, she said she is optimistic that nests without exclosures will be safe from predators.

“I think that predators are much, much worse in Ontario because of human disturbances on the beach. I believe the gulls are more aggressive, they’re more abundant on the beach because there’s lots of people, food and trash. And I suspect a beach like Sauble – a big, long beach – without all those people packed on it, the predators will be more evenly distributed and I don’t think they’ll be as aggressive or as tuned into plover nesting sites,” she said.

“I’d be more concerned about people who are flouting the beach closures accidentally trampling the nests. That’s the bigger risk with having them unprotected right now.”

Do you need a Accident Lawyer in Ontario?

Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers is a leading Toronto accident law practice. Our lawyers feel it is their obligation to aid you to find the government as well as health and wellness organizations that can additionally aid you in your roadway to recuperation.

Neinstein Accident Attorneys has managed severe accident claims across Toronto for more than 5 decades. Its locations of know-how include medical, legal, and insurance issues connected to medical negligence, motor vehicle injuries, disability claims, slip and falls, product liability, insurance disputes, and much more.