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Nesting birds cause Cape Point fishing site to close

Park deputy superintendent Mark Dowdle says people still can get within about a half-mile of the point
Credit: Roger Eriksson
A piping plover chick rests under the protective wings of its father on the Lake Huron shoreline at AuSable Point in East Tawas on July 25, 2011. Unlike some other birds, both male and female piping plovers care for the nest and young.

BUXTON, N.C. (AP) - Nesting birds have caused the Outer Banks fishing site of Cape Point to close to anglers for the first time in nearly two years.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that rangers have made a buffer around a nesting colony of least terns at the popular surf-fishing site. Mark Dowdle is the deputy superintendent of the park. He says the point probably will remain closed through July when the terns leave the nest. Piping plovers have also nested in the area and the season's first sea turtle nest appeared Saturday in Ocracoke.

Dowdle says people still can get within about a half-mile of the point. Cape Point used to close to anglers for long periods when nesting season began, but the rules changed three years ago to allow for smaller buffer zones.

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