2023 Piping Plover Monitoring Season Recap

Jun 16

The 2023 Piping Plover monitoring season was a success thanks to our incredible team of five seasonal monitors and our Project Leader Mikayla Erickson. Beginning May 1st, monitors went out to Wisconsin Point Habitat Site daily to observe, identify, and record all species of shorebirds, signs of predators, and environmental changes. This information was recorded to data sheets and captured through photographs.

Piping Plover spotted on Wisconsin Point taken by St. Louis River Alliance May 15, 2023 — *Photo of Piping Plover taken by St. Louis River Alliance Piping Plover Monitors on Wisconsin Point Habitat Site May 15, 2023*

Species that were seen this season included; Piping Plover, Black Bellied Plover, Dunlin, Sanderling, Ruddy Turnstone, American Golden Plover, Dowitcher, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, and Semipalmated Plovers. Since establishing the site in 2019, shorebird numbers and species are rising.

A Piping Plover was spotted on site May 10, May 13, and May 15th. However, there was not a nesting pair this year. The hope is that through continued maintenance work and monitoring, one day a pair of Piping Plovers will mate and nest along Wisconsin and Minnesota Point shorelines.

Though Piping Plover migration season has come to an end, the work continues! The St. Louis River Alliance has summer plans to enhance and manage the Wisconsin Point Piping Plover habitat. In partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, approximately 5,000 dune grass plugs will be planted, adding to the thousands of plugs that were planted last year. In addition, woody debris clean up and invasive species removal will be completed to create a favorable habitat for next year’s shorebird migration.

Thank you to the team of monitors for their work, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife for funding this program. Additionally, we would like to extend gratitude to the community for their appreciation for the Piping Plovers. We are hopeful that someday we will have a nesting story to share!