By Samantha Wilkinson Park Ranger, Reid State Park

bird on the beach For the endangered piping plover, there’s no such thing as a carefree day at the beach.

Each April, the small, puffy, sandy-colored little shorebirds return to Reid, Popham and Crescent Beach state parks to build their nearly invisible nests in the sand, generally right along the dune line.

PHOTO A piping plover on Reid State Park beach by Samantha Wilkinson

Other birds that enjoy the comparative safety of traditional tree nests probably scoff at what the piping plovers consider suitable housing. Their so-called nests consist of little more than divots in the sand, offering virtually no protection against predators, pedestrians, and the forces of nature.

Still, piping plovers are a welcome sign of spring at Maine’s coastal state parks. I delight in hearing their distinctive bell-whistle call on Reid’s beaches, although with only 27 known nesting pairs statewide last year, it may explain why that call sounds a little plaintive.

The seagulls also rejoice when the plovers return. If the spring storms don’t sweep the nests out to sea first, the hatchlings will make for easy pickings — the tiny chicks are about half the size of a single French-fry, and possess fewer survival skills.

However, as Maine state parks celebrate 75 years of service this year, it looks like the piping plovers will finally have something to cheer about as well. Cue the music and bring on the newest gadget designed to disrupt the seagulls’ seaside buffet — an impressive sounding device known as – kettle drums, please — the “AVIAN DISSUADER.”

According to wildlife biologist Lindsay Tudor, who has championed the plight of the plover for more than five years through the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the avian dissuader holds plenty of promise. She described it as a type of laser pointer, larger than the kind one might use around the house to tease a basset hound, but smaller than what Bruce Springsteen would have at his concerts.

The laser beam will be aimed at colonies of seagulls and is designed not to harm them, but to confuse and disrupt them enough that they scatter and roost well away from the plovers’ nesting grounds.

If Bruce spent more time at Reid, he might recognize how cool this concept is, though he probably doesn’t get up early enough to see the device in action.

“The avian dissuader is most effective in low-light conditions,” Lindsay told me, “so we’ll be at Reid’s nesting sites in the wee hours of the morning, before daybreak.”

OK, I’ll set my coffee maker to brew a little earlier this spring, and I echo Lindsay’s enthusiasm for this new high-tech tool. However, we both still agree that tried-and-true methods of protective fencing and public education are still most critical to the plovers’ survival.

I run into many park visitors who are unaware they share a beach with the tiny sand-dwellers at all, let alone the degree to which foot traffic, pets and even beach cleanup in the nesting areas disrupt the piping plovers’ delicate breeding cycle.

As we continue to celebrate Maine state parks this spring, be sure to keep one ear to the ground at your favorite ocean-front park. Maybe we’ll all hear the sound of a few more tiny tweets of approval.

Upcoming events at Maine State Parks:

· Feb. 27 -| Skate Night/ Moonlit Snowshoe – Cobscook Bay State Park, Dennysville;

· Feb. 27 – Take It Outside Family Fun Day – State Conservation Office, Lyman;

· Feb. 28 – | Nature Legends – Wolfe’s Neck Woods State Park, Freeport;

· March 13 – Take It Outside Family Fun Day – Vaughan Woods State Park, S. Berwick.

For more information, go to: http://parksandlands.com and follow the link to “Event Calendar.”