P.E.I. photographer lastly captures uncommon second as piping plover chicks hatch

A longtime dream has lastly come true for Glen Strickey.

The Prince Edward Island photographer has spent years hoping to seize a uncommon second — the hatching of endangered piping plover chicks. Last month, after years of attempting and ready, he lastly did.

“They’re some of the cutest baby birds out there. They look like little cotton balls with legs and beaks,” Strickey instructed CBC’s Island Morning.

“They run around. They’re very active and super cute, just to watch them kind of go around grabbing their little insects.”

The piping plover has been listed as endangered by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada since 1985.

Only about 60 of the birds are usually seen on P.E.I. every year. They often go away the Island in late August for hotter winter places just like the southern U.S. or the Bahamas and return in April.

Strickey stated their nests are so tiny and well-camouflaged that recognizing them, not to mention photographing the chicks hatching, could be extremely troublesome.

Behind the scenes

Strickey stated getting the photographs took cautious planning and persistence.

He visited the positioning both early within the morning or round sundown to keep away from attracting consideration to the birds, and at all times saved his distance to make sure he would not disturb them.

“I have an extremely long lens. The photos that I posted were taken from 30 metres, 50 metres away,” he stated. “I set up quite far away from the birds where there’s absolutely no stress to them whatsoever.”

The nest he photographed final month wasn’t inside P.E.I. National Park, the place nesting areas are marked with indicators and roped off to maintain folks away.

A good friend tipped him off in regards to the location, which had two lively nests. Strickey visited one of many websites for twenty-four days straight, checking on the eggs every day. He was away when one of many nests hatched, however he obtained fortunate with the second.

“I was actually able to see, basically, a chick hatch, which was really an incredible experience to actually have photos of the chick while it’s still wet out of the egg.”

Last yr, issues did not go so properly. Strickey had discovered a number of potential nesting websites, however missed his likelihood.

“One last year involved me driving 45 minutes each direction, then jumping on my bike and biking… three or four kilometres to a spot where I then had to hike about another three kilometres each direction,” he stated.

“I did that every day for a couple of weeks, checking the nest, waiting for it to hatch. And then I had to go away for a week or so, and came back and they were gone.”

Protecting the chicken

Strickey has shared his photographs with Island Nature Trust in case they’re helpful for conservation functions.

He additionally posted the photographs on social media, together with messages about how the general public may help defend piping plovers.

When strolling on the seaside, he stated, folks ought to keep near the water. The nests are very well-camouflaged and often sit simply excessive sufficient on the seaside to keep away from the tide, which means they’re nearly invisible to the untrained eye.

“It would be very possible for you to disturb or walk on them, or you can get close enough that the parents will abandon the nest as well,” Strickey stated.

If folks see grownup piping plovers, he stated they need to assume there are chicks close by, even when they cannot see them.

Even inside P.E.I. National Park, the place some areas are roped off to guard plover nesting websites, Strickey stated folks must be cautious, as chicks can wander properly outdoors the protected areas.

Another vital step: leash your canine.

He stated canines working unfastened on seashores can pose a severe menace to piping plovers and their younger. Strickey stated holding canines on-leash all through the summer time is vital.

In the top, he stated defending piping plovers is about greater than the birds themselves.

“If you have piping plovers on your beach, that means your beach is a healthy beach. And all Islanders want their beaches to be healthy,” he stated.

“We don’t want to get into a situation where we don’t see them on our beaches anymore.”