Falcate Orangetipes, 30 Ap 11

A few pictures, male and female, of the Falcate Orangetips found on the CBA walk at West Rock led by Larry Gall.

E B'Way PPs mating 25 Apr 11

The East Broadway Pipers were courting and mating on a sunny, warm (67 degrees) afternoon (around 3:30). The following videos show mating (1 minute, 30 seconds) with the male goosestepping, extending his neck to reveal his broad necklace, leaning backwards, kicking the female, mounting, tatooing while on her back, finally copulating, and treating her roughly after the dismount. The second video shows a tilt display: the male spreading his wings and tail while the female sits sheltered in a scrape.

21 Apr 11 PPs mating Mlf Pt

Mating PPs at Mlf Pt, 21 Apr 11.
The second video shows the beginning of a courtship/mating cycle. Here the male performs a tilt display and symbolic nest scraping; the female goes to the nest scrape and stands under the males upraised and spread tail feathers. In the first video the male performs goosestepping as her pursues the female. He seems to acually kick her before mounting on top of her. All the time the wind is blowing quite hard.

PP pair, 17 Apr, Mlf Pt spit

Today we found 7 PPs on the Milford Point spit--on Thursday we found only 2. Last night we had a big storm, and the spit was washed over. Here is a still and a video of the pair at the beginning of the spit. We assume the one on the left is the female because she is paler overall, has a smaller necklace and forehead line and less orange at the base of the bill.

E. B'way PP pair, 4/14/11

The Piping Plovers were back at their usual spot on the E B'way beach in Milford CT today, April 14, 2011. Below, a few still images, then a 45 second video of the male at 2: 41 PM; then the female (16 seconds). Both were relatively inactive today, as was the single pair we found at Milford Point. Perhaps the recent violent storm took something out of them

PPs parallel running 7 April 2011

Today, 7 April 2011, while doing our usual monitoring of the Piping Plovers at the Milford Point spit, we saw 7-9 PPs, including the pair of males in this video. They seem to be performing parallel running, the behavior usually seen after nests have been established by nesting neighbors to demarcate their territories' bondaries. Courtship behavior and territorial charging both in evidence today. (Note: many (250) Bonaparte Gulls on other sandbars; 3 pair of American Oystercatchers; a pair of Horned Larks on the spit. N. Gannets diving, RB Mergs displaying.)