**HANDLE WITH CARE:** Piping Plover chicks hatched in late June along Nantasket Beach. More expected to hatch in early July, barring any major interruptions to their nest and habitat. Beachgoers are being asked to be careful around the nests this holiday weekend. [Photo courtesy of Liz Varga]

At the end of May, the late-season nor’easter battered Hull’s beachfront. Mass Audubon and Hull’s Piping Plover Ambassadors were able to quickly get to the dunes and witnessed the loss of some May Piping Plover nests, and eggs. We are fortunate that some new nests were reestablished, and some Plovers laid new eggs. Now we have six chicks on the beach. Hopefully, more to come before the end of the season.

“The 4th is in front of us and we are worried. We hope that neighbors, friends and family will give the designated nesting areas a wide berth as part of our best attempt to protect these threatened birds,” said Susan Mann of Hull’s Piping Plover Ambassadors. “We are proud to be home to these birds who make their way here each year. If you know people who are planning to discharge fireworks on the beach, please ask them to do so somewhere else, or not at all. It would be a great help to the chicks and to keep them out of harm’s way if the public would voluntarily help with this effort. Remember, the chicks cannot fly yet. If the adult plovers are scared and fly away, the chicks will be helpless.”

“Piping Plover Ambassadors will be on the beach with flashlights trying to redirect beachgoers and guests the best we can,” she said. “If you see us, please help by bringing a flashlight and stay away from the identified nesting areas, marked by fiberglass poles and twine located high up in the dunes.”

For more information about the Piping Plovers, visit www.facebook.com/groups/677238740064434 and www.massaudubon.org.

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