ESCANABA - Aronson Island became home to three pairs of adult nesting piping plovers this past summer, however, a storm surge along with natural predation led to no chicks being fledged for 2008.
Piping plovers were listed as federally endangered in 1986, when the number of breeding pairs fell to 17. While the population has rebounded to 63 breeding pairs, they remain vulnerable to both natural and human disturbances.
According to Bill Rollo, wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the birds nested near the water's edge where storms were able to wash out their nests.
Piping Plovers prefer wide, sandy, open beaches with little or no vegetation and scattered small stones, shells or drift wood for their nests.
"There was also a large active colony of terns present, one of the few common tern colonies found along the Bays de Noc," said Rollo.
Common terns are considered a threatened species in Michigan, and serve as protectors for piping plover nests from gulls and other natural predators, noted Rollo.
Natural predators for piping plover nests and chicks are ring-billed gulls, herring gulls, crows, merlins and common ravens.
Other predators identified include great horned owls, snowy owls, red fox, coyote, racoon, 13-lined ground squirrel, striped skunk and domestic cats and dogs.
"Each year we ask the public to respect these birds (terns and piping plovers) while they are nesting and not to disturb them," said Rollo.
Piping plovers have also been seen at times on Portage Point, however they appeared to be flying between the two spots, as no nests were found on Portage Point.
"Portage Point is very windy and not far off the water leaving no opportunity for shorebirds to nest," he said.
However, Delta County did see one nest out on Indian Point near Nahma successfully fledge one chick this past summer.
"There was one pair of nesting plovers near Indian Point, so in Delta County there were at least four nesting pairs," said Christie Deloria of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to Deloria, one of the nests constructed by the nesting pair was damaged, however a monitor was able to recover two of the eggs which were transported to a captive rearing facility where they are placed in an incubator until they hatch.
"Two eggs were also salvaged from Aronson Island, leading to two fledglings being released back into the wild," said Deloria.