Plover chick numbers plummet on P.E.I.

Only 11 piping plovers born on the Island this year were successfully fledged, says the Island Nature Trust.

That is only about a third of the 30 that were successfully fledged last year.

"It's the lowest number we've seen by quite a lot," said Jackie Waddell, executive director of the Island Nature Trust.

"One year doesn't make a trend. This is quite low. To have one third of the fledglings you had the year before, and that was a low year, that's pretty alarming."

Waddell pointed to two factors: flooding and predation, as the main reasons for the poor breeding year.