For BiodiversityWorks field staff, the end of August also means the end of the beach-nesting bird season. As the 27 sites we monitor transition from nesting areas to migratory stopovers for species that breed further north, our staff transitions from fieldwork to compiling and reporting the productivity data we’ve amassed over the last four months.
This is an exciting time for us because, while we had a general impression back in June and July of how the season was going, it’s not until we finalize the productivity data that we can compare this season to years past. As the following tables and charts show, the year’s results were complex but generally encouraging.
Piping Plovers and American Oystercatchers
Table 1. Piping Plover and American Oystercatcher Productivity at BiodiversityWorks Monitored Sites (2021-2026)
Figure 1. Piping Plover Pairs and Productivity Monitored by BiodiversityWorks (2011-2026)
Figure 2. American Oystercatcher Pairs and Productivity Monitored by BiodiversityWorks (2011-2026)
Least Terns, Common Terns and Black Skimmers
Table 2. Least Tern, Common Tern, and Black Skimmer Productivity at BiodiversityWorks Monitored Sites (2021-2026)
Looking just at the data, I would consider this a successful though not outstanding breeding season. The 49 pairs of piping plovers at the sites we monitor were right in line with their five-year average (1.04 fledglings/pair in 2026 vs. 1.00 fledglings/pair 2022-26). While this is slightly below our regional productivity goal of 1.24 fledglings/pair, breeding pairs of piping plovers across Martha's Vineyard have increased from 79 pairs in 2022 to 104 pairs in 2026. American oystercatcher productivity was below our five-year average (0.92 fledglings/pair in 2026 vs.1.06 fledglings/pair 2022-26), but was still well above average for most areas along the Atlantic coast where 0.5 fledglings/pair is the benchmark. We monitored the most least terns pairs since 2022 and saw both common terns and black skimmers return to Sheriffs Meadow Foundation's Little Beach and fledge chicks after both were absent from that site in 2025.
However, when I consider some of the challenges faced this season, I come away feeling that we accomplished much more than the data alone suggest. The piping plovers that nested at Lighthouse Beach in Edgartown persevered through bouts of nest predation from skunks, overwashed beaches during storms, and an entire restoration of the iconic lighthouse during peak nesting season (Figure 3). Yet these birds still managed the best productivity rate of any site on Martha’s Vineyard (15 fledglings, 3.0 fledglings/pair). The tern and skimmer colonies at Little Beach dealt with another year of regular chick predation from black-crowned night herons, yet both species still managed to fledge several chicks. A piping plover chick was trampled at Edgartown Great Pond, prompting a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation. (More information on this tragedy, and contact information for the USFWS tipline, are included in this Vineyard Gazette article). As I sit here and list these additional hardships beyond the routine rigors these birds face nesting on beaches prized for recreation, I find myself again amazed at their resilience and proud of the assistance and protection our Beach Bird Conservation team was able to provide them to achieve such a success.
Figure 3. The piping plovers at Lighthouse Beach achieved the best productivity on the island despite a challenging season including a lighthouse restoration that took place during peak breeding season.
On August 4, I had the privilege of presenting the preliminary data for the entire island of Martha's Vineyard, as well as some of our stories, in this presentation at the Massachusetts Coastal Waterbird Cooperators Meeting. This is an annual meeting at which monitoring agencies and non-profits from across the state share productivity data from their region, while state conservation leaders revisit how listed species are faring relative to their recovery goals. The data shared at this meeting is always preliminary because many sites still have unfledged chicks on their beaches at the time of the annual meeting, but it was encouraging to see that careful statewide stewardship has produced an upward trend for the state’s piping plover, least tern, and roseate tern populations. It was also interesting to see the large proportion of the state’s American oystercatcher pairs that nest on Martha’s Vineyard (26.4%, 73/277) despite the fact that our island accounts for just 8% of the state’s total shoreline. The Vineyard is truly a stronghold for this charismatic species as it continues to reclaim parts of its historical range.
This statewide meeting is a highlight for me every year because it reminds me where our organizational efforts fit within the context of larger-scale conservation goals, highlighting the importance of our work, and it has been encouraging to see island-wide plover populations show an upward trend as well (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Piping Plover Pairs and Productivity on Martha's Vineyard 1990-2026
The other thing I enjoy about the statewide meeting is it showcases the size of the community involved in the protection of these species we care so deeply about, while giving me a chance to reflect on the strength of that community here on Martha’s Vineyard. So while we close the book on a busy, occasionally challenging, but ultimately gratifying 2026 beach-nesting bird season, I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues from Massachusetts Audubon, Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank, Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, The Trustees of Reservations, the Town of Edgartown, as well as to my co-workers at BiodiversityWorks and the many volunteers who donate their time and effort to help with all sorts of tasks, from April to August, in all sorts of conditions. Without this vast collaboration, successful seasons like this one would not be possible.
Although the breeding birds we worked with so closely are dispersing, the Vineyard’s beaches continue to serve as vital foraging and roosting habitat for migrating terns and high-latitude breeding species like sanderling, ruddy turnstone, and black-bellied plover. These birds have made it through a breeding season or recently learned to fly. They rely on biologically productive upper beach, wrack lines, and inshore waters to feed heavily, rest, and store energy for the next leg of their migration. To help monitor populations of these transient birds, BiodiversityWorks staff brushed up their ID skills to census local beaches for the International Shorebird Survey, coordinated by Manomet Conservation Sciences, in mid-August. It’s one more thing we can do to help these fascinating birds. You can help by sharing the beach with these vulnerable travelers: when visiting the beach and/or when you see one of the signs below, follow the dog rules (no dogs or leashed dogs only) and walk a path that leaves feeding or roosting birds as undisturbed as possible. As our work with nesting birds teaches us every day, the line between survival and failure is thin for these species. Little things can make a big difference.
