The ropes are up at Coast Guard Beach deterring the public from walking through the nesting Piping Plovers. You can see the posts all the way down the beach to Nauset Spit, with rope connecting them. Hopefully, people will obey these rules and the Piping Plovers can nest in peace. (Click on blog link for other photo.)

“Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program (CWP) is one of the most effective entities working to protect coastal birds and barrier beaches in North America. The CWP was first launched in 1986 in response to declining populations of Piping Plovers—newly listed that year under the Endangered Species Act—and terns in Massachusetts.

In partnership with federal, state, and municipal agencies (along with private landowners), the program helped to recover the number of nesting Piping Plovers in the state from 135 pairs in 1986 to 1,200 pairs in 2024—more than 50% of the entire Atlantic Coast population.”

We are so lucky to have these beautiful little birds nesting on our beaches!