If you saw this plover and thought: one of these things is not like the others… you have a sharp eye! Nomad was banded as an adult at Assateague Island National Seashore in 2023 by our friends down at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. This little park ranger was part of the same project that Sriracha and company joined in 2024!
Different banding projects use different field-readable band types. Our plovers banded in Delaware share the four-band upper leg combination scheme with folks conducting research in New Jersey and New York. Flags with and without alpha-numeric codes are used across the range – you’ll find piping plovers sporting them around the Great Lakes, on the east coast of the US, and all the way up Canada!
We saw Nomad for a little bit late in the summer of 2023, and in 2024 he officially moved to Fowler Beach. Occasionally, when a pair fails to hatch a nest or fledge chicks, one or both birds will take a sight-seeing trip to other beaches. If they like what they find, they may choose to return there the following year and set up shop. I’d love to say Nomad found greener pastures, but he had a pretty terrible run of bad luck. His first mate in 2024, Pua, was lost during a weekend storm and we never saw her again. We knew something was wrong come Monday when we found him freaking out all up and down the beach. He knew he couldn’t raise a whole nest of eggs by himself – piping plovers share incubation duties 50/50.
Eventually, Nomad settled down and managed to persuade a new gal back to his bachelor pad. She’d flown over from the Point at Cape Henlopen State Park after losing most of her chicks to a predator. Together, they laid a brand new nest and even managed to hatch all of the eggs! Sadly, within a couple of days, all their chicks were either eaten or perished in the elements. It looks like the pair didn’t let the hard times get the better of them, because both birds are back and raring to go. Together!
From March 1 to September 30, Fowler Beach is closed to public access to prevent disturbance to nesting birds and their young as well as migrating shorebirds like the red knot. Please obey all posted signage and avoid entering areas that are marked as closed so that vulnerable wildlife, plants, and their habitats can thrive!
