Oversand vehicle trails on Chappaquiddick have been partly reopened after a weekend of closures to protect nesting piping plovers, the Trustees of Reservations announced. All trails to Cape Pogue remain closed to vehicles.
As an especially active shorebird nesting season shapes up this year, the Trustees of Reservations has closed a wide swath of beach trails to over-sand vehicles from Edgartown to Chappaquiddick. Little Beach in Edgartown — where there is no driving on the beach — is a particular hotspot.
In the last week of August, the final fledgling of the piping plover nesting season departed from the shore of Quansoo Beach on its first migration south. The departure marks the end of the nesting season for plovers on Martha’s Vineyard.
Is it too early to be thinking about the breeding season? Yes, in general, but no for the piping plover, a species that usually returns to Martha’s Vineyard in late March and begins nesting by mid-April. For this year, on Jan. 10, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added this species to its list of endangered and threatened wildlife.
Fderal and state agencies announced a management plan to allow communities to reopen beaches that would otherwise be closed to vehicles during spring plover nesting season.
With piping plovers enjoying a major comeback in the state, new regulations may allow communities to reclaim beaches that would otherwise be closed to protect the nests and chicks in the spring.
