Overview
Hello Ploverites!
The end of the western snowy plover breeding season is in sight! We now only have a single active nest, due to hatch in the next few days. A large number of broods fledged their chicks in the past couple of weeks, particularly near Abbotts Lagoon, increasing our fledge count to 22! For comparison, we had a total of 23 fledglings from the 2021 breeding season. On top of that, we still have 8–11 chicks still active on Point Reyes beaches, in addition to the three unhatched chicks from our last active nest!
Here are updates organized by beach sites:
Kehoe (K):
There is no breeding activity remaining on this site. There is a growing winter flock near the Abbotts Lagoon mouth.
Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA):
There is one active nest along the southwest lagoon shoreline, along with several broods (i.e., males with chicks) still actively using the restored dunes. As mentioned above, there is a winter flock that frequents the lagoon mouth area, sometimes venturing south along the beach.
Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP):
No active nests remain on this site, our busiest site of the season. However, two to four broods are still running around.
North Beach (NB):
No breeding activity has been detected on this site this year.
South Beach (SB):
No breeding activity has been observed at this site this year.
Limantour (L):
The—likely—last nest of the season from the King and Queen of Limantour unfortunately failed: we believe a racoon family depredated the nest by inserting their prying hands into the mini-exclosure and grabbing the eggs. The snowy plover pair has been spotted in the winter flock, suggesting they're done for the season.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, via email.
CURRENT STATS:
- 34 total nests this season
- 1 active nest
- 22 hatched
- 11 failed nests
- 8–11 chicks on the beach!
- 22 chicks confirmed fledged
A male snowy plover (banded av:yb) vocalizing and trying to distract biologists away from newly hatched chicks.
A male snowy plover performs a distraction display, specifically called "tail-dragging," to lure biologists away from a hatching nest at Abbotts Lagoon.
A freshly hatched snowy plover chick, with egg shell fragments still present.
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