LEWES, DE.- DNREC plans to welcome visitors to a stretch of oceanside beach at The Point at Cape Henlopen State Park on Sunday, Sept. 1.
Officials say The Point has closed annually since 1993 each March for the benefit of threatened and endangered beach-nesters and migratory shorebirds, including piping plovers, oystercatchers, least terns, red knots, and other species before reopening in the late summer-early fall for beachgoers and anglers.
They report eight piping plover chicks successfully fledged from nests at The Point during this year’s closure. We are told at least 11 least tern chicks hatched. Still, observers were unable to determine how many successfully fledged.
Apparently, while piping plovers nest in isolation and their nests can be enclosed with protective fencing, least terns are colonial nesters and individual nests cannot be enclosed to protect them from predators.
Thus far in 2024, Biologists say 24 species of shorebirds, 10 species of terns including the federally threatened roseate tern, and seven species of gull are among the species observed at The Point.
The Point’s bayside beach is expected to remain closed until Oct. 1 for use by shorebirds migrating south for the winter.