Be careful where you walk on the beach, you could run over bird’s nests

Watch out for bird nests on the beach! This warning may seem harmless and surprising, but it will save thousands of eggs about to hatch. Because yes, it’s not just sea turtles that make their nests in the sand…

If you live on the northwest coast or if you are used to staying in Brittany or the Cotentin, you have probably seen the sand plover on the beaches. And rightly so, this migratory bird, too Charadrius alexandrinus, frequents these shores. From mid-June we can also observe post-marital gatherings. And while these species are easy to spot, their eggs are much less so…

Watch where you step!

Notice to swimmers, hikers and divers, be careful not to crush the nests of birds on the beach. Yes, several species, including the ring-necked plover or the schooner, breed from April to July on the northwest coast. These birds dig holes in the sand to bury their eggs and incubate them until they hatch.

To warn the population, the Conservatoire du littoral, the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), the National Office of Forests (ONF), the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) and Rivages de France are launching for the third time year on drive the action “Watch out, we are walking on eggshells”.

“Lhe nests, made in the sand, are not necessarily visible. And even if you don’t crush the eggs, the females will eventually leave the nest.”

Louis-Gérard D’Escrienne, deputy director of the OFB for Occitanie, quoted by tell them

Photo: Shutterstock

How to protect the nests of these birds?

To avoid walking on eggshells, ornithologists advise us to keep our dog on a leash, not to leave the marked trails, to go as far as possible to high beaches, sand dunes or vegetation at the back during this whole period. In addition, it is absolutely necessary to collect the waste so that it does not end up in the beaks of birds (obviously this rule applies all year round).

So watch where you step! Did you like this article? This is how you encourage the nesting of birds in your garden

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