Life's A Bumpy Beach For Piping Plovers At Sand Hill Cove

NARRAGANSETT, RI—Headed to Roger Wheeler State Beach for the weekend? Expect some unusual competition for a parking space—from an endangered bird species. Two piping plovers have chosen the parking lot at Sand Hill Cove to nest, according to the state Department of Environmental Management.

Specifically, the birds have picked "a strip of vegetation sprouting from a crack in the parking lot at Roger Wheeler State Beach in Narragansett," the DEM said Friday. The strip is about 100 yards away from the beach. What to do? The state has a plan. Volunteers have started roping off the section of the parking lot near the nest. That section's going to be strictly for the birds. It means fewer parking spaces for people over the next few weeks, but the hope is, the beach goers will share the territory with Mother Nature.

There's a lot at stake for the piping plovers, Janet Coit, DEM's director, pointed out.

“With fewer than 4,000 piping plovers on the Atlantic coast, each one makes a difference, and we’re excited to see one of the marvels of nature unfolding at our state beach,” she said. “Working with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, DEM will do everything we can to protect these plovers and give the nest its best chance at hatching. Because this will require many logistics and reduce the number of parking spots in the lot, however, we ask for beach-goers’ patience and understanding in the weeks ahead.”

The volunteers are going to be out in the parking lot putting up signs and directing traffic (both car and pedestrians) to steer clear of the nest.

The second part of the plan kicks in after the chicks hatch. If they survive, they need a way to move from the nest to the beach. It's an 100 yard walk for them.

The volunteers are putting up a corridor (made of plastic fencing) from the nest to the beach dune. Then they are going to sprinkle sand on the parking lot asphalt to encourage the chicks to walk through the protected corridor to the beach dune.

"This sheltered walk could take chicks an hour or longer, but might take much less, according to biologists," the DEM said.

“While this is not a typical nesting site, piping plovers have been known to nest at Roger Wheeler State Beach in the past 10 years,” said Jennifer D. White, Ph.D., USFWS Wildlife Biologist and Piping Plover Coordinator. “Since becoming a protected species in 1986 and thanks to the hard work of volunteers, private land owners, government, and non-government organizations, plover numbers in Rhode Island have increased from less than 20 pairs in the 1980s to just under 100 pairs in the last few years. With the right protections in place and some luck, we hope this pair of plovers succeeds at hatching their nest and adding to the local population.”

“People and wildlife can share the beach – and we’re hoping that Rhode Islanders, out-of-state patrons, and these piping plovers can share beach parking spots too,” said Coit.

Photo Courtesy Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management

Cover Photo: Kaiti Titherington, USFWS