From March through September, an unusual set of restrictions are put in place along some Oregon beaches: no kites or drones, only leashed dogs and no walking in some sandy areas.
The rules are meant to help the snowy plover, a small beach-nesting bird that is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
As recently as the 1990s, the snowy plover population along the Oregon coast numbered in the dozens.
Now, with hundreds of birds in the state and thousands along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, the efforts to protect the species appear to be working.
That work includes Oregon State Parks rangers and volunteers patrolling areas where plovers have nested in the past, helping inform the public about the seasonal rules put in place by the U.S. Forest Service.
Jacob Caldwell is one of those rangers. On a recent spring day, he was patrolling a roughly five-mile stretch of beach in Douglas and Coos Counties, running from Winchester Bay south to Tenmile Creek.
Among Caldwell’s duties is making sure people know about the small birds.
"Especially people with dogs or through-hikers [on the Oregon Coast Trail],” said Caldwell. “We'll just let them know, ‘Hey, based on the direction you're going, you're going to run into a plover area,’ and just kind of give them that heads up."
He keeps plover egg replicas handy so he can show people how small and camouflaged they are, like the birds they’ll grow into.
Caldwell also watches for trash that has washed ashore during high tides or was dropped by beachgoers.
He also watches for something else that could endanger plovers: dead sea life.
“When marine mammals wash up, especially deceased ones, in these plover areas, they can attract predators,” said Caldwell. “And predators are one of the biggest deterrents or detractors from the plovers’ population success, especially crows and ravens.”
There are stretches of beach where the sandy areas are off-limits and restrictions are in place each year. Other areas will be incorporated as plovers nest outside of the regularly-closed areas.
“That's kind of encouraging that they're getting out of the management areas and they're actually nesting on the open beach,” said Caldwell.
That encouraging sign comes after decades of work to protect the birds.
Plover populations dwindled in the 1960s and 70s, causing the birds to qualify for protection in 1975, according to Laurel Hillman, an ocean shore resource coordinator with Oregon State Parks.
“Following that, there were surveys done, sort of started in earnest in the early 90s, that documented as few as 50 adult plovers in Oregon,” said Hillman.
One of the biggest reasons for the shrinking number of plovers was loss of habitat, as Oregon’s beaches were taken over by European beach grass and other invasive species.
“There was less room for people to share the beach with plovers,” she said. “So that was one of the main reasons that led to their population decline, which was the loss of their habitat on open sandy beaches of Oregon.”
According to Hillman, the plover population in Oregon now tops 500, and the most recent west coast count revealed that their population exceeds 3,000, a recovery benchmark.
“3,000 birds is a major milestone for the plover, because that's their recovery target,” she said. “Now we just have to hit it 10 years in a row.”
An increasing population could mean plovers are delisted in a decade’s time, but restrictions may have to be around for longer.
“The reason that they're threatened is the loss of beach due to increasing non-native species like European beach grass,” she said. And that invasive beach grass isn’t going away anytime soon.
Back on the beach, Jacob Caldwell has reached his turn-around point, Tenmile Creek. The stream blocks further travel, and the rising tide means he has to start his drive back so his truck stays out of the sandy part of the beach.
Outside of a little plastic, some buoys and a small drum that was both empty and sealed shut, it has been a calm morning on the beach.
“Nothing to report back to the Forest Service,” he said. “No vehicle tracks or signs of people where they shouldn't be. So when there's nothing to do, it's kind of a good day.”
For now, Caldwell hasn’t spotted any snowy plovers on this trip down the beach, although some other wildlife was in view: sandpipers, a pair of seals and a bald eagle. Plus, plenty of velella velella, the small jellyfish that washed ashore in abundance during the spring, causing what is colloquially called a “blue tide.”
But, as he stopped to pick up more beach trash, Caldwell pointed up the beach into the restricted area, spotting one of the small birds.
“I think that's a male,” he said. “That little black band on their forehead, and then, like on their collar, is more pronounced during the breeding season.”
And, thanks to protections such as the beach restrictions, such sightings are becoming less rare with each passing year.
