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Section J Shorebird Monitoring & Management

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Section J Shorebird Monitoring & Management Section J Shorebird Monitoring & Management Duxbury Beach, Duxbury, MA 2017 Beach Nesting Bird Summary Report Prepared by Gabrielle Gareau and Autumn Jorgensen, Mass Audubon Coastal Waterbird Program Photo by Autumn Jorgensen For further information, please contact: Katherine Parsons, Director Sue MacCallum, Director Coastal Waterbird Program South Shore Sanctuaries PO Box 275 2000 Main Street Cummaquid, MA 02637 Marshfield, MA 02050 (503) 362-7475 x9351 (781) 837-9400 [email protected] [email protected] Abstract Monitoring of Duxbury Beach for nesting Piping Plover and Least Tern began on March 21 and continued through August 31, 2017. There were 28 pairs of Piping Plover that had territories at the site but only 27 of these nested. There were a total of 46 nest attempts. Ten nests hatched 28 chicks total and 11 chicks survived to 25 days, the age at which they are considered fledged, for an overall productivity of 0.41. One chick died after 25 days but before fully fledging, so in reality only 10 chicks actually fledged. Least Terns settled into four colonies by late May and there were 113 pairs at the beginning of June. High tides and storm overwash on June 5 caused many pairs to abandon the site; by mid-June only 75 remained and by July fewer than 40. Only a single tern nest survived to hatch, but the 2 chicks were lost within a week. Most egg and chick losses for both species are from predation and overwash, although some Piping Plover chick losses may have been due to exposure during cool, wet weather. Two Least Terns, a Piping Plover adult and a Piping Plover chick were found dead on the beach this season. Site Characteristics Duxbury Beach is a narrow 6-mile barrier beach peninsula, which spans the towns of Duxbury and Plymouth in eastern Massachusetts. A maintained hard-pack sand road spans the length of the beach on the bayside, connecting the communities of Saquish and Gurnet (in Plymouth) to the mainland. Along the road, 3 vehicle crossovers allow access onto the front beach for off-road vehicles (ORVs). The spine of the barrier beach is formed by low-lying dunes which are densely vegetated by beach grass, sea rocket, seaside goldenrod, beach rose, beach pea, and poison ivy. Woody shrubs and trees dominate the areas of higher elevation, including High Pines and Plum Hills. The substrate on Duxbury Beach varies significantly along its length and between the oceanside beach and the bayside. The oceanside beach is mainly made up of a cobble and sand mixture, but becomes nearly all cobbles between the third crossover and Plum Hills. The bayside consists of tidal mud flats, salt marsh, low dunes covered in beach grass and other vegetation, and some patches of cobble. Between High Pines and the third crossover, there is a wide, flat area on the bayside where patches of vegetation are removed annually to create artificial habitats for nesting birds. The ecosystem provided by this barrier beach is unique and affords considerable breeding, foraging and resting habitat for a number of songbirds, shorebirds and other wildlife such as the federally and statelisted species Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) and Least Tern (Sterna antillarum). Each year, Duxbury Beach provides an important stopover and foraging site for thousands of migratory shorebirds. The beach is owned by Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc. (DBR) and it is leased to the Town of Duxbury. DBR has developed an extensive Beach Management and Habitat Conservation Plan, which includes the Endangered Species Monitoring Program. The Duxbury Harbormaster Department is responsible for the enforcement of regulations relating to the management plan, including management of wildlife species of concern. Endangered Species Officers (ESOs) are specifically responsible for overseeing these aspects of beach management as outlined in the Beach Management Plan. Mass Audubon’s South Shore Sanctuaries’ Coastal Waterbird Program (CWP) biologists are responsible for data collection, monitoring breeding behavior and nesting activity, and making recommendations to minimize disturbance and maximize productivity. All of these roles and positions work in conjunction with one another to protect the Piping Plovers and Least Terns nesting on Duxbury Beach, and regulate human recreational access to the beach. For further details regarding the management plan and specific roles and responsibilities of each party, please refer to the Duxbury Beach Management and Habitat Conservation Plan, Revised May 2016. During the summer, and particularly on holidays and weekends, the beach is heavily used for human recreation. Annual parking permits and oversand permits are sold to the public by the town. Regulations and subsequent enforcement establish that all vehicles must display either their parking and/or ORV permit in order to access either parking lot or the ORV-designated sections of the front beach. While dogs are permitted on the beach, the dogs and owners are subject to certain restrictions. Dog walkers are required to carry a permit with them, with dogs being leashed at all times, and they are forbidden to disturb wildlife on the beach. The Duxbury Harbormaster department enforces established beach rules outlined in DBR’s Beach Management Plan, such as restrictions on open fires and regulations pertaining to alcohol consumption. Monitoring Activity Monitoring for nesting Piping Plover and Least Tern by the CWP biologist began on March 21 and continued until August 31. The site was visited three to five times per week in March and April. As nesting activity increased at the beginning of May, monitoring visits increased to 6 and eventually 7 days a week beginning the last week of May, shortly before the first chicks were due to hatch. Visits to the site covered the suitable habitat areas on the oceanside beach, the artificial habitat areas on the bayside, exposed tidal flats on the bayside, and areas of the dunes where birds had been active. Due to the large size of the beach, full coverage was not possible each day, so a typical visit might cover half to threequarters of the beach, with the areas covered alternating between days. If time or CWP staffing levels allowed, the entire beach was monitored in a single visit. Monitoring tasks included counting adult terns and plovers, searching for nests, and checking on active nests and pairs. Once nests began to hatch, the CWP biologists began monitoring at 6am and would locate active broods and count plover chicks before the front beach was opened to vehicles. Additionally, CWP biologists regularly interacted with beach goers, informing them about monitoring activities and educating them about the nesting birds. The symbolic fencing was inspected on every visit and the ESO on duty was informed of any needed repairs or extensions. Duxbury Beach ESOs were present on the beach 7 days per week throughout the season. Piping Plovers The first Piping Plover adults were observed on April 3, when there was one pair and three lone adults roosting on the upper beach at high tide. By April 7, 23 adults had returned to the beach and, based on observed behavior, at least 9 pairs were already established. This early arrival of pairs that seem already established suggests that they may be returning pairs that had nested at the site the previous year. The number of pairs kept increasing throughout April and even into the first half of May, as more breeding birds arrived from their wintering grounds. By May 18, there were 27 pairs and a lone male. One of these 27 pairs was actively scraping and courting near High Pines for three weeks in May, but they then departed the site around May 21 without having nested. This pair is included in the total counts for census reporting because of their extended stay despite not nesting at the site. The lone male had a territory on the oceanside beach south of High Pines and was very active in the early weeks of the season. He was first seen with a female on June 14 and they quickly began courtship and breeding behaviors, making a total of 28 pairs this season, 27 of which nested. The first nest was located on April 24 and the first egg was likely laid that same day. There were many late nests this year, with many late-arriving pairs and pairs re-nesting after nest losses. The last nests were found on June 22 and the last egg was laid on June 25. The 27 pairs that nested had a combined total of 46 nests, with at least 160 eggs laid. Each nest attempt is given a unique alpha-numeric identifier with the number indicating which pair the nest belonged to and the letter representing which attempt the nest is – A for a first nest, B for the second and so on. If a nest is lost before all the eggs have been laid, the pair will often start a new nest and continue laying immediately. These nests are designated as continuation nests (for example Nest 4B-continuation) as they are technically part of the same round of egg laying and do not represent a completely new nest attempt. See the table in Appendix 1 for details of each nest and the maps in Appendix 2 for nest locations. 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Hatched Overwash Coyote Fox Predation Crow Skunk Unknown Predation Predation Predation Cause Figure 1. Piping Plover nest outcomes. Total nest count was 46, but note here there are 49. Three nests had two different outcomes and are counted under each type: Nest 9B-cont had one chick hatch but a fox got the remaining eggs or very young chicks in the nest; Nest 16A lost two eggs to unknown cause but the adults kept incubating the remaining two eggs until they were lost to a crow; and Nest 24A lost one egg to unknown cause two weeks before a coyote took the remaining eggs.
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