Piping Plovers are small, endangered shorebirds in Manitoba. Its call is described as a "plaintive peep-lo" which made it the perfect name for this blog as it too is a plaintive call, a Call to Action.

29 July 2009

Dedicated Guardians Care for Piping Plovers

Dedicated guardians care for piping plovers
by Arielle Godbout

photo by Trevor Hagan

GRAND BEACH -- Each summer, Matt Tebbutt drives nine hours from his home in Minnesota to Manitoba, where he spends all of June and July at his cabin in Grand Marais. Tebbutt, whose father was originally from Winnipeg, said he'd limit his visit to a couple weeks if it weren't for the piping plovers -- small, white birds that could fit in the palm of his hand. Tebbutt is one of about 60 volunteer guardians who watch over the endangered birds as they nest in the white sand of Grand Beach and this year -- for the first time ever -- at Gimli Beach.

"How often do you get to see an endangered species in its natural habitat?" Tebbutt asked fondly, looking over to where one of this year's chicks scurried across the beach.

Click here to read the rest of the story in the Winnipeg Free Press