Every summer part of the beach at Cape Henlopen State Park is closed for breeding birds, including the piping plover. Join The Sussex Bird Club in-person in the library or online for a presentation by Mary Birdsong on the piping plover comeback on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. After a 60-year absence, piping plovers are now once again calling Gull Point at Presque Isle State Park their summer home. Nesting there since 2017, they have contributed to the endangered Great Lakes population in a meaningful way and afforded us with the opportunity to learn more about these charismatic shorebirds. They have also provided moments of deep sadness as well as sublime joy. Birdsong will provide an overview of the Great Lakes population and touch on highlights from the last seven years of monitoring.

Mary Birdsong is co-founder and Lead Shorebird Monitor for Erie Bird Observatory. She has been monitoring shorebirds, particularly Piping Plovers since 2013. She is active in Presque Isle Audubon, and is also a freelance writer and artist. She shares her home with her husband Mike Plyler and two gray tabby cats, and is the proud Busia to three granddaughters, with another grand baby on the way. 

NOTE: this session is available to attend in-person or through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER and indicate which you prefer.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email us.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for all our sessions. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.