TOLEDO, Ohio — After a brief disappearance earlier this week, all four Piping Plover chicks have returned to Maumee Bay State Park.
WTOL spoke to Black Swamp Bird Observatory Executive Director Kimberly Kaufman on Saturday. Kaufman says the four critically endangered birds, who became famous earlier this summer, have likely been spending part of their time on the beach at nearby Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge, moving back and forth between the two areas.
"We're not surprised that they're still here," said Kaufman, whose organization manages the volunteer monitoring program protecting and documenting the birds. "We're still within the average time the chicks stay in the nesting area."
The chicks - Erie, Ottawa, Maumee, and Kickapoo - gained national and international attention after their parents, Nellie and Nish, decided to make Maumee Bay their temporary home earlier this summer.
A large part of the beach on the inland lake at Maumee Bay State Park was cordoned off in early June when Nellie and Nish's nest was discovered and remained closed until early August to protect the nest and young birds.
Kaufman says the birds will head south when they're ready, and until then, she and her group of volunteers will continue to monitor the birds.
This is the first time in 83 years a pair of plovers have been seen nesting in Ohio.
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