Park Establishes Pre-Nesting Areas for 2009 Shorebird Breeding Season

Date: March 9, 2009
Contact: National Park Service, 252-473-2111, ext. 148

Outer Banks Group Superintendent Mike Murray announced today that National Park Service (NPS) staff will establish the 2009 pre-nesting areas for breeding shorebirds in Cape Hatteras National Seashore during the week of March 9th in accordance with the terms of the consent decree.

The areas to be posted are based on breeding areas used in the past four years and a recent habitat assessment conducted by Seashore natural resource staff to adapt the closures to current conditions. These temporary closures will be installed on sections of the Bodie Island Spit, Cape Point, South Beach, Hatteras Inlet Spit, North Ocracoke Spit and South Point Ocracoke by March 15, 2009. The pre-nesting areas will be marked with “symbolic fencing” consisting of wooden posts, bird usage signs, string and flagging tape.

Dates and locations for the installation of specific pre-nesting areas will be determined by prevailing weather and tide conditions. Maps of the pre-nesting areas are available at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID=358&projectId=13331&documentID=26028

For more information, call 252-473-2111 ext. 148.