Seasonal Restrictions in Effect at Shifting Lots Preserve

By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator

Symbolic fencing at Shifting Lots Preserve. Photo by Jerry Monkman.

Shifting Lots Preserve in Plymouth could be considered prime real estate for people and wildlife alike. For people, the warm sand, cool waters, and quintessential South Shore views make the Wildlands Trust property and adjacent Ellisville Harbor State Park a can’t-miss summer destination. For wildlife, the preserve’s salt marsh estuary, sand dunes, and migrating barrier beach provide crucial habitat to an intricate web of aquatic and terrestrial species. Ensuring that Shifting Lots remains a place for all species to enjoy requires seasonal adjustments to how we humans engage with the property.  

In late March, volunteers and staff from Wildlands Trust and the Friends of Ellisville Marsh installed symbolic fencing around the historic nesting area of Piping Plovers within the preserve. This fencing, composed of simple wooden stakes and twine with bright-colored educational signs, may not provide much of a physical barrier between shorebirds, people, and predators, but it can help alert beachgoers to the small, sandy-colored birds that are otherwise almost impossible to spot. Alongside habitat loss from beachfront development and predation from gulls, raccoons, and other species attracted to nest sites by food waste and garbage, Piping Plovers face death and nest failure from more direct human conflict, including pedestrians and offroad vehicles trampling eggs and unleashed dogs frightening parents and chicks. Consequent population declines have contributed to their protected status under both the state and federal endangered species acts since 1985. 

Volunteers of Wildlands Trust and the Friends of Ellisville Marsh installed fencing at Shifting Lots in late March.

However, the dedicated efforts of local, state, and regional organizations and agencies have demonstrated that a little intervention can go a long way toward protecting these vulnerable shorebirds. Over the past four decades, symbolic fencing, nest monitoring, and public education have contributed to a sevenfold increase in Piping Plovers in Massachusetts, from 135 pairs in 1986 to 956 pairs in 2021. Collaboration among conservation groups—including the longstanding partnership between Wildlands Trust, the Friends of Ellisville Marsh, and Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program—has proven particularly effective at securing the space that Piping Plovers need to thrive along our shoreline.  

For plovers to continue calling our region home, we all need to do our part! Please obey all signage at Shifting Lots Preserve, especially by keeping out of fenced areas. Every year between May 15 and September 15, the Shifting Lots parking lot is closed in order to moderate visitation during peak breeding season. Vehicles may drop off passengers at the parking lot gate and park at Ellisville Harbor State Park, a short walk from Shifting Lots. 

Piping Plovers.

Thank you for helping us uphold our duty to protect the vulnerable wildlife of Shifting Lots Preserve. If you observe vandalism or other suspicious behavior on the property, please take photos or videos and notify the Plymouth Police Department and/or Wildlands Trust at info@wildlandstrust.org or 774-343-5121. For your safety, please do not approach any active or hazardous situation. 

To learn more about shorebird conservation at Shifting Lots Preserve and beyond, check out this 2021 webinar presented by Wildlands Trust, Mass Audubon, and the Friends of Ellisville Marsh.

Vandalism Threatens Shorebirds at Shifting Lots Preserve

Read Time: 2 min

By Amy Markarian, Senior Copywriter

We are disappointed to report that, for the second year in a row, we are experiencing significant vandalism at Shifting Lots Preserve, in Plymouth. Wildlands' protective fencing that surrounds the shorebird nesting areas, as well as signage informing visitors that dogs are not allowed on the beach, has been damaged and/or removed by visitors on several occasions this spring. The fencing and signs are both critical tools we use to ensure the safety of protected birds on our preserve.

As many of you know, Shifting Lots provides important habitat for Piping Plovers, which are listed as Threatened on both the Massachusetts and Federal Endangered Species Lists, and Least Terns, which are listed as a Species of Special Concern in Massachusetts and are protected under the state Endangered Species Act (MESA).

We know that the Wildlands community cares about local wildlife as much as we do. So, we are asking you to join us in making sure that such acts of vandalism do not continue. If you observe anything unusual and/or see vandalism to our fencing or signage at Shifting Lots Preserve, please take photos and/or videos and reach out to the Plymouth Police Department with the information as soon as possible. We appreciate your support in the protection of these vulnerable species!

(Read Executive Director Karen Grey’s letter to Shifting Lots’ neighbors here.)

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Shifting Lots: More Than Just a Pretty Place

By Amy Markarian, Senior Copywriter

Read Time: 4 min

Karen Grey and Kathy Parsons worked together for seventeen years, as members of the senior management team at Manomet Center for Conservation Sciences. Karen is now the executive director at Wildlands Trust and Kathy is the director of the Coastal Waterbird Program at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. In the second chapter of each of their careers, the two have reunited in a collaboration that brings together land conservation and bird protection at Wildlands’ Shifting Lots Preserve and the adjacent Ellisville Harbor State Park, in Plymouth. The project is an example of one of the ways that Wildlands manages conserved land for wildlife.

Wildlands Trust’s director of stewardship, Erik Boyer, facilitates a partnership with the Friends of Ellisville Marsh to support Mass Audubon’s annual protection of shorebirds from April through August. For the last fifteen years, staff and volunteers have worked together to monitor and protect Piping Plovers and Least Terns that nest along the shore at these Plymouth beaches.

Declining populations of both birds in the mid-1980s prompted efforts to protect nesting and foraging areas in the state. At the Coastal Waterbird Program's inception, there were 135 pairs of nesting Piping Plovers in Massachusetts, compared to 956 pairs in 2021! These Massachusetts birds currently account for more than half of the entire Atlantic Coast population of the species. According to program staff members, “Coastal birds face many challenges along our busy coastline as they lay their eggs on the sand and raise their young amidst the beach-going public.” It’s not possible for shorebird monitors from one organization alone to do the ongoing work of protecting the birds, so local collaborations like this one are essential.

The Coastal Waterbird Program’s 2021 field summary for Shifting Lots Preserve, issued in December, indicates that our Plymouth partnership is contributing to the program’s impressive achievements. This year’s team installed and maintained protective fencing, posted educational signage throughout the area, and provided direct education to visitors about the threatened birds. And, while the number of nesting Piping Plovers remained consistent relative to the previous year (3 pairs), there were 8 fledglings this summer – the greatest number seen at Shifting Lots in the last fifteen years! Additionally, 12 pairs of nesting Least Terns and an unknown number of fledglings were also protected.

While there’s no question that this program site has demonstrated notable success, it has not been without some challenges. The 2021 field summary reported vandalism to the temporary protective fencing that was installed last spring, which required frequent repairs. Bike tracks were also observed near the nesting sites on several occasions. But perhaps the greatest challenge for program volunteers, and the shorebirds they protect, was predator harassment –most often from dogs.

Both Shifting Lots Preserve and Ellisville Harbor State Park prohibit dogs on the beach throughout the nesting season each year, though leashed dogs are allowed on the wooded trails of the State Park year-round. But pet owners don’t always adhere to the posted warnings, and program volunteers observed unleashed dogs on the beaches on several occasions. Owners often mistakenly believe that close supervision of their pets is sufficient to ensure the birds’ safety. However, the stress of nearby animal activity is enough to disrupt the birds’ habitat and endanger young fledglings.

Looking ahead to next year, the team believes that better signage and additional enforcement of policies curtailing dog activity on the beaches may be helpful for the continued success of this important shorebird nesting habitat. Wildlands Trust is proud of the achievements of this collaborative effort to protect local wildlife, and we look forward to continuing to partner with the Friends of Ellisville Marsh and Mass Audubon’s Coastal Waterbird Program to ensure that Shifting Lots continues to be much more than just a pretty place to visit!

Annual Fencing Goes up at Shifting Lots

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Erik Boyer installing this year’s fencing and signage along the dunes.

In preparation for the expected uptick in visitation at Shifting Lots Preserve, Stewardship Manager Erik Boyer and Wildlands volunteer and board member Marilynn Atterbury spent a day out on the property this past week installing temporary fencing along the dunes. This work is done in tandem with the Friends of Ellisville Marsh, who install fencing along the front portion of the property in order to protect the nesting sites of piping plovers and least turns.

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Piping plover eggs in the sand.

In addition to creating space around the nesting sites to prevent scaring the birds away, the fencing also helps visitors avoid accidentally stepping on their eggs when walking along the shore. Just as we ask visitors to stay on trail at our wooded preserves, we ask that if you visit the property, please be mindful that this area is an important habitat for the survival of these creatures and keep out of the fenced-off areas. As in past years, this fencing will remain up until October.

 If you’d like to learn more about threatened shorebirds at Shifting Lots and Cape Cod, you can check out the recording of our recent Zoom presentation on our website: https://wildlandstrust.org/wildlands-online.