Terns and Plovers
Following the Second Gulf War capture of Saddam Hussein and control of Baghdad, George Bush was reelected to a second term and real estate continued to rise. Mimicking the great success of the Junior Lifeguard program, the Fire Company took on their first Junior Fire Fighter and formed a Junior Auxiliary for 16-18 year olds. Juniors could work around the equipment, but could not be near smoke, fire, or noxious fumes. Brandon Fetzer was the first Junior Firefighter. He lived across Baltimore Boulevard, a block from the station.
The Least Tern in Flight NJDEP
Contractors were busy all over town, expanding and rebuilding. Several pairs of least terns built nests on the beach in 2023 at the Guard camp. The threatened birds were protected with roped-off beaches and signage. Stress from dogs, predators, uninformed humans, and beach equipment can cause nesting failure.
A pair at Baltimore Blvd.
The terns nest in sand hollows and around dunes. They are group nesters and rely on each other to react to threats. The small population in New Jersey makes it vulnerable, given habitat loss. They also compete for nesting sites with more abundant sanderlings.
Signs and rope warn off potential threats to the birds
In an even more rare occurrence, a single pair of piping plover nested on Beach 0, near the Spring Lake border. The parents leave the nest regularly to walk to the shoreline to feed, while the chicks are left vulnerable. A large section of the beach was closed, and the Terrace access point was rerouted.
Plover and Chicks (US Fish And Wildlife)
The DEP and Conservation groups looked for volunteers to monitor the nest during the day for the months before the chicks could fly. Nancy Mclarie Heyduk of Spring Lake Heights was a constant at the beach. The Geese Peace movement, to chase Canada Geese from public parks using border collies, created a stir when observers witnessed the chased geese from around Divine Park landing in the beach nesting zone. Geese remediation was halted for the season.
The pair successfully raised two chicks to fledge this season. Since there were only 133 pair of birds in the whole state, the success of the nest was important.