THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 27, 1995 TAG: 9505270414
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
For decades, piping plovers have returned to Grandview Beach Natural Preserve to mate in the flat dunes that touch Back River and Chesapeake Bay.
But for three straight springs now, the endangered little shorebird has not successfully nested here.
Naturalists are so worried that, beginning Memorial Day, uniformed officers from local, state and federal agencies will patrol historical nesting sites to give the muffin-sized bird maximum protection from weekend warriors.
``This is the first time we've tried this,'' said Andy Cortez, special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Richmond, whose agency will lead the plover patrols.
``We really want to change public attitudes about going into these areas,'' he added, ``but we're prepared to take violators to court. We're serious.''
Piping plovers, named after their lyrical peep, were declared an endangered species in 1986 after their populations sank dangerously low due to increased shoreline development and other human intrusions.
Since then, they have shown a modest recovery in their Atlantic range, from Newfoundland to North Carolina. But recent mating problems among the sandpiper-like beachcombers in Hampton Roads have spurred some scientific soul-searching.
In response, wildlife experts are trying several new measures, including the patrols, to offset probing humans and predators.
The plover's mating season just happens to coincide with one of the busiest beach times of the year - from Memorial Day to July 4th - when Grandview Beach is loaded with visitors, boaters, families, picnickers and other merrymakers.
This creates a sensitive dilemma: Can the eroding city beach continue to support both humans and plovers?
Wildlife officials hope so. But they note how other Atlantic states, such as New York and Massachusetts, have stopped allowing cars onto certain beaches and have even fenced off some nesting areas from public use.
At the other local nesting site, on the much quieter Craney Island in Portsmouth, graduate students from the College of William and Mary will be stretching special netting across nests to protect eggs from another threat: raiding foxes, gulls and raccoons.
The technique, which leaves just a tiny hole for the plovers to come and go, was employed last spring for the first time but did not work. The eggs never hatched.
Despite that, the five pairs of plovers that built nests in the grainy dredging wastes at Craney Island still managed to hatch 11 youngsters, said Ruth Beck, a William and Mary biology professor who has studied shorebirds for 22 years.
``All in all, we had a pretty good year,'' Beck said during a recent tour of nesting areas. ``Now if we can just get some of these other management efforts to work, we'll be OK.''
A self-described mother hen to the birds, Beck has counted two nesting pairs at Craney Island this spring, but notes that others may still arrive.
Plovers migrate here from Florida and the Caribbean in late April and May for their annual courtship. They leave - newborns in tow - in late August.
Beck also has spotted several plovers roaming among the sparse beach grass and white flat dunes at Grandview Beach. But none are nesting as yet. The last time plovers nested at Grandview, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was 1991. Three pairs were seen then.
Warning signs against intruding onto protected dunes at Grandview have been posted for years. They line the dunes like a makeshift fence.
Yet reports persist of loud parties and illegal camping in the dunes, and of dogs and children scurrying after nesting birds, authorities say.
Intentionally harassing a piping plover is a violation of the federal Endangered Species Act. Penalties range from a fine up to $50,000 or one year in jail, Cortez said.
Last spring, a boating accident near Grandview spooked three pairs of plovers away from their nests. The birds never laid their eggs, and did not return after the crash to even try, Beck said.
Plovers have been nesting at Craney Island since 1989, Beck said. Nesting pairs have increased from one that year to five last year. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the dredge disposal island, closes access roads and stops work each spring to accommodate the mating birds.
While the dredge waste is not as clean as the white sand at Grandview, it nonetheless mimics the flat, pebbly surface that plovers like, Beck said.
The biggest mating area in Virginia is on the barrier islands along the Eastern Shore, where the same flat beaches are found. Most of the estimated 120 nesting pairs in the state come here.
Plovers caused an outcry on Cedar Island, where stilted homes had to be moved to make room for nests. Such disputes are cited by Republican reformers in Congress who want to soften the Endangered Species Act.
Beck is philosophical on this point.
``If you would have asked me 30 years ago, I would have said yes, plovers probably could adapt to human intrusion, as some still argue,'' she said. ``But we've changed the coastal area so much and we're seeing that they haven't adapted.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo of piping plover from "Book of North American
Birds"
Photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN, Staff
Ruth Beck, a biology professor at the College of William and Mary,
leads students in search of piping plovers on Grandview Beach.
KEYWORDS: ENDANGERED SPECIES by CNB