habitat creation experiment August 22, 2006
I check for piping plover news on Google News at least once a day, so I know the Corps of Engineers does things with water levels and dams that affect piping plovers. The latest news from North Dakota is that they waited to release water from the dam until the piping plover and least tern chicks fledged. There's also a plan to do some dredging at Lewis & Clark Lake in Missouri to create sandbars that they hope piping plovers and least terns will find attractive. Amy over at Wildbird on the Fly has an entry about the Lewis & Clark Lake thing in which she asks for comments from people who have had experience with this kind of experiment. So, all three remaining plover lovers who read this ... get your plover lovin' biologist friends to answer Amy. OK? I commented but because the habitat requirements for the Atlantic coast PIPL population differ from the inland ones, I don't really have anything intelligent to contribute. And then, as long term readers know, I am a devoted believer in Orrin Pilkey's work and a wee mite skeptical of the Corps of Engineers' grand plans. Come to think of it they (the Corps) did listen to me about how it was a bad idea to dispose of contaminated dredge spoils from Providence Harbor in a significant wintering area for ducks so they are flexible and not monolithic. Of course building sandbards in a lake is a lot different from both manipulating barrier beaches with jetties and groins and burying contaminated dredge spoils so their plan could work. At any rate, those of you who actually know something about the inland PIPL population and about the Corps should go answer Amy's question. P.S. I did not go twitch the western reef heron yet. Too much gray cubicle work.		Reading Today's Reading Mr. Crewe's Career by Winston Churchill This Year's Reading 2006 Booklist
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