LEWES, Del. (AP) - Delaware state officials say they are closing part of Cape Henlopen State Park to protect threatened and endangered shorebirds.
The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control says the Point at Cape Henlopen, including a section of beach, dunes and a half mile of bay shoreline, will be closed March 1. Nesting habitat on the ocean side will reopen Sept. 1 when young birds hatched this season are typically able to fly. The bayside beach will remain closed until Oct. 1 for use by shorebirds migrating south for the winter.
The area has been closed annually since 1993 as part of an effort to halt the decline of beach-nesting and migratory shorebirds, including piping plovers, least terns and oystercatchers.
