Wrapping up another spectacular field season working with #PipingPlovers! Here's a thread of some season highlights of what we've been up to on the beaches of #FireIsland:
Everyone thinks working on a beach is a breeze! That is until you realize how abrasive the sand and wind can be on your face after 5+ hours. To combat this, I wear a variety of neck buffs & my polarized sunglasses on the daily to prevent eye strain from hours in the sunlight. 
Most of my workday is comprised of surveying PIPL nesting habitat using a spotting scope. This allows us to see plovers from afar and count of how many banded vs. unbanded individuals are in the study area and read the unique band/flag combinations on the banded individuals.
What I’ve enjoyed the most this season is observing PIPL behavior. On left, a male is “high-stepping” for the female as part of the courtship ritual. On right, this plover is performing a distraction behavior, or “broken winging” to lure potential threats away from its nest.
We use a Trimble GPS unit to record nest locations throughout the study area as well as any predator evidence to get a sense of how much predator activity is in close proximity to nesting locations!
For my thesis research I'm looking at how landscape features are blocking the view of a plovers incubating their nests. I collect veg height samples in the nesting habitat by using a Robel pole to record plant height and a density board to determine veg density.
We trap unbanded adults and apply unique flags to their legs so that we can monitor each individual’s survival and travel. Having a “marked” population allows researchers to know that this unique plover has survived so far and also where it ends up!
Nests don’t stay eggs forever! Sooner or later they hatch and we have to be ready! We increase the frequency of nest checks when they start fracturing with small cracks shown in photo.
If we’re lucky, we check the nest on the day of hatch and see that the eggs have turned into small fluff balls (or chicks)! PIPL chicks are precocial so they stay in the nest for a few hours after hatch but will begin running and looking for food by the end of the day!
Just like we adults, we capture the chicks and apply unique codes of color bands to their legs as well. This allows us to keep track of which brood belong to which pair of parents as well as track their survival, too!
Once our chicks grow up and are departing their hatching grounds, they are often seen by other bird watchers and identified by their unique leg band combinations!
And that’s a look into my summer! DM me any questions you have about my research or what it’s like working with this amazing species! NOTE: All handling is done with necessary permits!
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
