On Saturday, Aylus volunteers went to Jones Beach field 1 to help protect piping plovers’ habitat. The piping plover (Charadrius melodus) is a small, sparrow-sized, migratory shorebird with sandy-grayish brown coloring and white underparts. During breeding season, adults have a black forehead band and a single black breast band. They are known for their two-note “peep-lo” call, which is often heard before the bird is seen. Protecting the piping plovers by guarding the fences is a traditional event that happens once a year in the Memorial Day holiday.
After the Aylus volunteers arrive at field 1 at 9:00am, they followed the instructor to find a spot to settle by the fences of the habitat. They sit on beach chairs or blankets they brought, and they can watch the air show with different planes and jets in the meanwhile. Volunteers would have to stay until 4:00pm. The air show was a special event for the Memorial Day, which honors the US military and soldiers who sacrificed their lives in war and didn’t come back.
Because of the air show and the holiday, more people come to the beach to play and spend time with their friends and family. However, this might correlate to some who found the habitat that was fenced interesting, so they might enter the region and this can cause damage to the piping plovers’ eggs. To prevent this from happening, Aylus volunteers surrendered the habitat to make sure the plovers’ eggs were protected to prevent a decrease in biodiversity. We are protecting the plovers and setting a place for them to breed because piping plovers are threatened or endangered and face survival challenges due to habitat loss, beachgoers, and vehicles. What the Aylus volunteers did today are meaningful and a big contribution to the plovers’ habitat, and it also gave the volunteers a chance to relax and listen to the voices of the sea.
Reported by: Felicia Liu
Members who participated include: Felicia Liu (7h), Yingxiang Liu (7h), Yuya Liu (7h)