A Recorded History of Plover Jonesy

Verbatim from our local reporter. Amazing how far that small of a bird can travel.

Banded as an adult male on 6/4/15 on the coast of Rhode Island by Peter Paton (Professor, Dept. of Natural Resources Science, Univ. of Rhode Island).
Last detected up north on July 16 in southern Rhode Island. Unsuccessfully attempted to nest at Sandy Point, RI.
Spotted by intrepid naturalist Ali Ball on Winding Bay beach, Abaco, on 15th, 22nd and 29th October. Reported to Todd Pover, who sent Keith Kemp down with superior camera on Oct. 30th. Bird finally ID’d by numbers (09C) on green flag on upper left leg, plus blue band on upper right leg.
Tag traced back to Peter Paton, who supplied Rhode Island details.

Ali originally nicknamed the bird “Mrs. Jones” because it was always in the same place, same time, etc. But as bird turned out to be male, this has now been changed to “Jonesy”.

Please make sure Keith Kemp gets photo credit!

About the Author: Craig Layman

My lab’s interdisciplinary pursuits provide for a multi-faceted understanding of environmental change in the coastal realm. We are ecologists, asking questions that span population, community, ecosystem and evolutionary sub-disciplines. We often use a food web based perspective, exploring top-down (e.g., predation) and bottom-up (e.g., nutrient excretion) mechanisms by which animals affect ecosystem processes. All of our efforts are framed within a broader outreach framework, directly integrating science and education, using approaches such as this website.