Laura M. Zitske, Maine Audubon, Director of Coastal Birds Project
Laura M. Zitske, Maine Audubon, courtesy of Laura Zitske
Every spring, endangered Piping Plovers and Least Terns return to Maine beaches to nest and raise their young. For over 35 years, Maine Audubon and its state and local partners have
worked together with local residents, landowners, and visitors to ensure that endangered birds, wildlife and people can share our beautiful coast and beaches. After months of intense work monitoring and protecting these endangered birds, they have now left our beaches on their migration to places as far away as South America.
Laura Minich Zitske, a Wildlife Biologist and Director of Piping Plover and Least Tern
Project, has been working at Maine Audubon since 2011. Ms. Zitske’s undergraduate experience and Masters research focused on seabirds, including terns and puffins in New Brunswick, penguins in Australia, and a suite of tropical seabirds in the Pacific. Currently, Ms. Zitske’s work concentrates on the endangered Piping Plovers and Least Terns which nest on the sandy beaches of Maine.
The Bar Harbor Garden Club welcomes its members and the public to learn more about this important project led by Ms. Zitske and her Coastal Birds crew. As coastal residents of Maine, learn how to share the beach with Piping Plovers to help them survive rough weather, loss of habitats, and human and pet disturbances.
The program will begin at 1:00 P.M. at Birch Bay Retirement Village in Bar Harbor and include time for questions. Due to limited seating, all members and guests must register for the event by emailing Barbara Amstutz at [email protected] or calling 215-764-0468. This presentation is one of the monthly programs offered to the public by the Bar Harbor Garden Club.