Piping plovers have better year

Officials with the Island Nature Trust say piping plovers fared a little better this year when compared to 2012, which was the worst year on record.

Volunteers counted 60 plovers on P.E.I., which produced 47 chicks. That's four more adult birds than last year, and 14 more chicks.

Island Nature Trust executive director Jackie Waddell said there was a better survival rate for chicks this year.

"This year things were up considerably on the productivity side and we had much better success for the [breeding] birds," said Waddell.

"There was less predation of the eggs, there was probably some less predation of the chicks themselves."

Waddell said they are noticing some changes over the last few years with where the plovers are nesting. She said there aren't as many at P.E.I. National Park beaches or in the western part of the province, but more are being spotted on beaches in eastern P.E.I.