The first piping plover nest found at Gordons Pond since 2016 failed because of predation from red foxes. A stretch of beach within Cape Henlopen State Park that had been closed for protection of the plovers was reopened today to beachgoers and surf fishers, and the pilot surf fishing program reservation system is again taking weekend reservations for the area. /Photo by Shelagh Lynch

Surf Fishing Reservations Again Being Taken for Weekend Access of Area

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today that a stretch of beach at Gordons Pond within Cape Henlopen State Park has been reopened to beachgoers and surf fishers after the failure of a piping plover nest that was discovered there in late May. The area, closed off June 26 to protect the piping plovers – a state-endangered species in Delaware and federally-threatened and Endangered Species Act-listed beach-nesting shorebird – is to reopen immediately for pedestrian and vehicular traffic, to include permitted surf fishing vehicles with weekend drive-on reservations.

The suspected cause of the piping plover nest failure was predation by red foxes which are believed to have claimed one of the parent plovers and all three chicks that hatched last month. The nest was protected against predation by an exclosure erected around it by DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife biologists, but the adults were susceptible when they left the nest to feed, as were the chicks once they hatched and began venturing outside the nest area.

DNREC staff from the Divisions of Fish and Wildlife and Parks and Recreation removed 800 feet of fencing Friday that had cordoned off the area around the nest to public encroachment. Though the first such closure for protection of piping plovers at Gordons Pond in seven years, the species has nested there on a number of occasions since its ESA listing in 1986. The protective fencing had extended to the high water mark on a portion of Cape Henlopen’s ocean beach while symbolic fencing – cautionary signage on fence posts tied off by twine – also was removed from the area as it reopened Friday to beachgoers and anglers.

Another stretch of beach at Cape Henlopen, The Point, is currently closed through Sept. 1 (Oct. 1 for The Point’s bayside beach), as it has been annually since 1993 for the benefit of threatened and endangered beach-nesting and migratory shorebird species to include red knots, piping plovers, American oystercatchers and least terns. The DNREC Divisions of Parks and Recreation, Fish and Wildlife, and Watershed Stewardship have worked together since 1990 on a management plan to help grow shorebird populations in Delaware – with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service oversight for protective measures on the shorebirds’ behalf.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Parks and Recreation oversees more than 26,000 acres in 17 state parks and the Brandywine Zoo. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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A piping plover chick with parent at Cape Henlopen State Park. DNREC will offer volunteer beach-nesting bird monitor training May 6 to help protect this federally-threatened and state-endangered species and other shorebirds including the American oystercatcher that nest on Delaware’s beaches. /Photo: Shelagh Lynch

Important Effort for Helping to Protect State’s Endangered and Threatened Birds

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is seeking volunteers who want to help protect Delaware’s beach-nesting birds – which include federally-listed threatened piping plovers and state-listed endangered American oystercatchers. Potential volunteers are invited to join a training session held by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 6 at Cape Henlopen State Park’s Officers Club Mess Hall located on Queens Road, Lewes 19958.

Volunteers who act as monitors are an important and valued component of the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s conservation efforts for the beach-nesting bird species. Stationed on the boundaries of the nesting areas, volunteers explain to beachgoers the importance of closing sections of the beach to prevent human disturbance thus helping increase the nesting success of the birds.

The May 6 volunteer training session will begin with light refreshments and a slideshow presentation, followed by a discussion about the beach-nesting bird monitoring program and how volunteers can help to ensure that these shorebirds are not disturbed while nesting and rearing their chicks during the summer months. Weather permitting, the group will finish the training session by venturing out to the Point at Cape Henlopen to look for piping plovers and other shorebirds likely to be feeding on the tidal flats. Binoculars will be available for use, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own optics if they have them.

Pre-registration for the training is encouraged, but volunteer walk-ups can also receive training to become beach-nesting bird monitors. Park entrance fees will be waived for volunteers attending the training. For more information on the training, beach-nesting birds, or volunteer monitoring efforts, please visit de.gov/pipingplovers or email Avian Conservation Program Manager Samantha Robinson at deshorebirds@delaware.gov.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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Piping plovers – a federally-listed threatened species and state-listed endangered species – experienced modest success in producing fledglings such as the chick shown above at Cape Henlopen State Park with a parent plover. Photo by Shelagh Lynch

Beach-nesting piping plovers – a federally-listed threatened species and a Delaware state-listed endangered species – experienced modest nesting success in Delaware during 2022, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today.

Seven pairs of piping plovers were recorded nesting at The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park and 17 additional nesting pairs were documented at Fowler Beach on Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, making for a total of 24 nesting pairs – the same number recorded in 2021. Piping plovers produced more fledglings in 2022 than in 2021, successfully raising 34 chicks to their flying age (25 days old). Nesting occurred later than normal, and nest and chick loss were high following several spring storms and higher-than-average predation at Fowler Beach.

Delaware documented state-record piping plover nest productivity from 2018 through 2020, but productivity was poor in 2021. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established a goal of 1.5 fledglings per nesting pair in 1996 as part of the piping plover recovery plan, and Delaware exceeded that goal from 2018 through 2020. In 2022, DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife recorded 34 fledglings, for a productivity rate of 1.4 fledglings per nesting pair that was substantially higher than the 0.8 fledglings per nesting pair in 2021.

Delaware’s piping plover recovery efforts involve partnerships between DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife and Division of Parks and Recreation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services. Partners are working together to better understand the drivers of population change and behavior, such as a new study that investigates piping plover chick and fledgling movement. Trained biologists fit each plover with a unique combination of plastic leg bands allowing individual birds to be identified using a spotting scope or binoculars. More information about piping plovers is available at de.gov/pipingplovers.

In other 2022 beach-nesting bird species updates, two pairs of American oystercatchers nested at The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park. Although this marked the first time in five years that two American oystercatcher nests successfully hatched at Cape Henlopen State Park, the chicks did not fledge due to suspected nest and chick loss from predation. Least tern counts continued to trend lower than prior years, with the only documented nest found at Cape Henlopen State Park failing to hatch.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land owned or managed by the Division of Fish and Wildlife. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram,  Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov

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A piping plover forages along a Delaware beach in spring of 2020 /DNREC photo

Important Effort For Helping to Protect Endangered and Threatened Birds

Volunteers wanting to help protect Delaware’s beach-nesting birds, including federally-listed threatened piping plovers and state-listed endangered American oystercatchers, are invited to join a training session held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 7 at the Cape Henlopen State Park Officers Club (Youth Camp III) Mess Hall located at 15099 Cape Henlopen Drive, Lewes 19958, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today.

The volunteer training session, offered by the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife beach-nesting bird monitoring program, will begin with light refreshments and a slideshow presentation, followed by a discussion about the monitoring program and how volunteers can help to ensure that beach-nesting shorebirds are not disturbed while nesting and rearing their chicks during the summer months. Weather permitting, the group will finish the training session by venturing out to the Point at Cape Henlopen to look for piping plovers and other shorebirds likely to be feeding on the tidal flats. Birding scopes and binoculars will be available for use, but volunteers are encouraged to bring their own optics if they have them.

Volunteers are an important and valued component of the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife’s conservation efforts. Stationed on the boundaries of the bird nesting areas, volunteers explain to beachgoers the importance of closing sections of the beach to prevent human disturbance thus helping increase the nesting success of the birds.

Pre-registration for the training is encouraged, but volunteer walk-ups also will be accepted for training as beach-nesting bird monitors. Cape Henlopen State Park entrance fees will be waived for volunteers attending the training. For more information on the training, beach-nesting birds, or volunteer monitoring efforts, visit de.gov/pipingplovers or contact DNREC Coastal Avian Biologist Henrietta Bellman by emailing deshorebirds@delaware.gov.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities, and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

A banded piping plover male photographed in mid-July at Cape Henlopen State Park on Delaware’s Atlantic coast/DNREC photo.

DNREC Provides Updates on Other Beach-Nesting Bird Species

Beach-nesting piping plovers experienced poor nest productivity on their breeding grounds in Delaware during 2021, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today in summarizing the rare shorebird species’ nesting success within the state.

Six pairs of piping plovers were recorded nesting at The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park with 18 more nesting pairs at Fowler Beach on Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge, making for a modern-day record total of 24 breeding pairs. Despite the record number of breeding pairs, piping plovers were less successful in producing only 19 fledglings, young birds that hatched and can fly in leaving their nest. Poor fledgling productivity is suspected to be the result of nest loss from a Memorial Day storm and higher-than-average predation at Fowler Beach.

Record piping plover productivity was documented in Delaware over the previous three years for the federally-listed threatened species and Delaware state-listed endangered species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established a goal of 1.5 fledglings per breeding pair in 1996 as part of the piping plover recovery plan, with Delaware’s nesting productivity exceeding that goal from 2018 to 2020. This year, the DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife recorded 19 fledglings, for a productivity rate of 0.8 fledglings per breeding pair. In 2020, 21 breeding pairs were documented, producing 47 fledglings for a productivity rate of 2.2 fledglings/pair.

Delaware’s piping plover recovery effort involves partnerships between DNREC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife and Division of Parks and Recreation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.

In other beach-nesting bird species nesting season updates, two pairs of American oystercatchers nested at The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park while one pair nested at Delaware Seashore State Park. Although the nest successfully hatched at Delaware Seashore State Park, the chicks did not fledge. A pair of American oystercatchers were observed using the marsh islands of Delaware Seashore State Park and were seen with two chicks that appear to have successfully fledged. Least tern counts were lower than recent years, with only four breeding pairs and four nests found at Cape Henlopen State Park, where only two chicks hatched, and neither of them fledged.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities, and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife conserves and manages Delaware’s fish and wildlife and their habitats, and provides fishing, hunting, wildlife viewing and boating access on nearly 68,000 acres of public land. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov, or Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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