LIVING ON THE EDGE: BIRDS ON THE OUTER BANKS
September 11, 2008, KCE Library, 7:00 p.m.
2.25 million visitors flock to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore every year. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer of these visitors are birds, particularly the birds accustomed to nesting on the dunes and the beach strand. In our love of the beach, we are pushing nesting birds to the edge. Just twenty years ago hundreds of pairs of Black Skimmers, Gull-billed Terns, Common Terns, and Piping Plovers nested here. Today, none of these species has more than 13 nesting pairs; but, if we preserve and protect the habitat, they will return.
Sidney Maddock, who manages the Audubon Sanctuary Islands near Ocracoke, and who closely monitors bird conservation on our beaches, will present "Living on the Edge: Birds on the Outer Banks" at the September 11th meeting of the T. Gilbert Pearson Audubon Society. Come join us at the Kathleen Clay Edwards Library at 7pm to learn more about these beautiful birds, the work Audubon has done to help protect them and the current political fight over access to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.