Ontbirds subscribers,
The Piping Plover has now moved from the status of 'historical breeding
species' to that of an active contemporary breeding species in the Greater
Toronto Area. Earlier today, I confirmed the presence of an active nest of
Piping Plover on the beach at Hanlan's Point on Toronto Islands. This
represents the first nesting of Piping Plover on the Canadian shore of Lake
Ontario since the spring of 1934, when George North found a nest with eggs on
Hamilton's Van Wagners Beach on 4 June 1934 and G. Hubert Richardson discovered
a nest with three downy young and one egg at this very same Hanlan's Point
Beach on Toronto Islands on 9 June 1934.
The location of the nest has been shared with the recovery team for Piping
Plover of the Canadian Wildlife Service and further protection of this nest
(perimeter fencing, predator exclosure, nest monitoring, etc.) under the joint
auspices of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Ontario Ministry of Natural
Resources and Toronto and Region Conservation Authority will continue tomorrow.
It is natural that there will be great interest in the outcome of this nest,
since this involves the breeding of a species that has not occurred locally in
81 years - a unique event that until now no one currently alive has had the
chance to witness. This represents a new 'beachhead' in the recovery of this
Endangered Species in Ontario and efforts are underway to provide the birds
with the best chances for successful nesting. A large area at the north end of
Hanlan's Point Beach has already been fenced off and 'Do Not Enter' signage has
been erected on all sides of the general nest area. It would be to the birds'
advantage if visitors could avoid the site altogether until the recovery team
has had the opportunity to provide further security for the nest area and to
coordinate a monitoring protocol and set up a volunteer public interpretive
program similar to that at the nesting site at Wasaga Beach on Georgian Bay.
In an era when so many of our birds are showing alarming declines, this is an
encouraging and novel conservation success story being written one beach at a
time. Let's hope that this pair of Piping Plovers has a successful nesting
season to come.
Glenn Coady
Whitby
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