Each spring, endangered Piping Plovers and Least Terns return to nest and raise their young on southern Maine beaches.  They are two of Maine’s most iconic and threatened bird species.  For more than 35 years, Maine Audubon and our partners have worked with local residents, landowners, and visitors to ensure that endangered birds, wildlife, and people can safely share the beach.

Laura Minich Zitske has been working with birds for 28 years, the last 15 of which have been spent at Maine Audubon as director of the Coastal Birds Project. In this talk, Laura will highlight some of the project’s successes and challenges over the past 45 years, including Maine’s exciting increases in the Piping Plover population. She will explore what makes plovers such remarkable birds and discuss the collaborative successes of Maine Audubon’s work with partners. Although Maine’s Piping Plovers are currently in a good place, there is always more work to be done to protect them and other migratory shorebirds. Learn about the incredible journeys of some species that stop along our coastline and how we can work together to help protect some of our most vulnerable feathered friends.  FMI: https://maineaudubon.org/projects/plovers-terns/

This program will be presented at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21st, in the Mather Auditorium at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm. The entrance to the parking area is off Skinner Mill Road in Wells.  It will be free and open to all ages, and no registration is required for attending the program in person. It will also be live-streamed via Zoom.  To view it via Zoom, you’ll need to register in advance.  To do so, please click on this  link and enter your name and email address: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sDRIzoaqRNi1NgO0n9wKQQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. We hope you can join us either in person, or, if not, via Zoom!