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.

07 May 2011

The Eagle Has Landed


"Eagle" on the beach in Gimli
 I began my plover surveys this week. On Tuesday, May 3, I visited Gimli Beach and was surprised to see a Bald Eagle sitting on a post in the middle of the beach. As I approached closer and closer it did not move. Very strange. Finally, I walked right up to it and realized it was not real. It was plastic and nailed to its perch. As if there were not enough problems for piping plovers trying to nest at Gimli Beach, now they had to contend with a menacing looking Bald Eagle. I needed to investigate what was going on.

As it turned out, the eagle had been placed on the beach last fall by staff of the RM of Gimli. It is an attempt to scare off gulls as a measure intended to reduce the incidence of e-coli in the lake adjacent to the beach. It would be hard to argue against this measure, but will it also scare away our plovers? After discussions with two bird biologists my mind was set at ease. Apparently, these types of attempts work initially, but as one biologist put it, "Birds learn pretty quickly what is real & what is not." So the mystery of the plastic eagle nailed to its perch has been solved. Hopefully, it will not deter any of our endangered piping plovers from making a nesting attempt on Gimli Beach as they did in 2009.

KP