not always sometimes rare species get in the way like the lesser horseshoe bat a tiny protective fellow that prevented the building of a bridge to more effectively unite the city of dresden and it s not the only creature getting under a business skin. of brisk wind is blowing across this field in northern germany bill him there that wants to show me where he d like to set up a wind farm turbines would be enough to provide energy for a small town but authorization was denied the reason species conservation that s what happened. is according to the german nature conservation agency the european golden plover is under threat. nearly died out in the state of lower saxony the conservation agency believes the plover may return to the area.
little plover, but to really appreciate this spot this is so amazing you need a little history lesson and some imagination. james audubon, the guy who literally painted every bird in the book, said his most amazing moment came here in the everglades in a place like this on a night like this. so many shore birds took to the air at once it darkened the sky for several minutes. moved him to tears. but then plumage became fashion and, thanks to the demand for ladies hats, feathers were worth their weight in gold. they killed 5 million birds a year, pink flamingos, blue herons, 90% of the shore birds in florida slaughtered for fashion. and these days you re lucky to see a flock of anything anymore.
it is a ground floor in a fishing, shrimping and crabbing industry worth billions. another good way to gauge the health of these waters is to trade snorkel for paddle, say good-bye to a manatee. what s up, bud? how are you doing? and go look at the sky. go look for shore birds. a place known as snake bite. those are pelicans in the distance and a big flock of little plover, but to really appreciate this spot this is
it is a ground floor in a fishing, shrimping, crabbing industry worth billions. another good way to gauge the health of these waters is to trade snorkel for paddle. say good-bye to a manatee. what are you doing? and go look at the sky. go look for shore birds at a place known as snake bite. those are pelicans in the distance. they had a big flock, a little plover. to really appreciate this spot so amazing. you need a little history
protected. these plovers nest in these open, sandy areas right directly on the ground. there are a number of animals here on the island that would just love to make a meal out of those eggs. so those cages protect those eggs from things like crows, fox, some other birds. so it s an attempt to help give that bird, this rare bird a little leg up. we ve probably got somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 or 90 birds. reporter: that doesn t seem like a lot. well, it s not. reporter: now another threat. the massive oil spill along the gulf coast where the piping plover migrates in winter. these pictures of oil-covered birds could foreshadow the plover s fate. because of the concern a team of scientists tagged and took blood samples from the birds to record their condition before they migrate south. the idea is to try to over the course of this coming year recapture some of those birds down in their wintering grounds, take additional blood samples and try and see whether they re