Overview
Hello Ploverites!
There season fledge count jumped to 20 snowy plover fledglings! Five chicks successfully fledged this past week, including the two from Drakes Spit! Two more chicks were confirmed fledged from the Abbotts Lagoon restoration area; they were observed foraging along the southwest shoreline of the lower lagoon (see photos below). Biologists have been observing the female, rv:xx (red violet left leg, unbanded on the right leg), caring for the two chicks since they've hatched. It's unknown what happened to her male, av:gr.
To make this story more interesting, rv:xx is missing her right foot! She was found near Kehoe trail in March 2024 with fishing line tightly wound around her leg, just above her foot. She was formerly banded rv:va and hatched in the seashore during the 2023 season. Circulation in her foot was completely cut off (see photo below). A Point Blue Conservation Science biologist was able to capture her in March, removed the fishing line and her old color bands above the injury, and she consequently became rv:xx. Her right foot was completely necrotic and fell off once the fishing line was removed. She not only survived the injury but is thriving and successfully raised those two chicks to fledge!
One other fledge was spotted in a winter flock with its dad (rv:bb) at Abbotts Lagoon, adding to the other 4 confirmed fledges this week.
Winter flocks of snowy plovers continue to grow and can be found at the Abbotts Lagoon mouth, south Kehoe Beach, Limantour Spit, and North Beach. There were at least 60 plovers observed in the Abbotts Lagoon flock. Typically, winter flock numbers peak sometime in December or January, before birds begin dispersing for nesting areas in February and March.
A few weeks ago, NPS biologists collected eggs from a North Beach nest that was threatened by high tides. These were transported to International Bird Rescue for care until they hatch and the chicks fledged. As of now, the eggs have yet to hatch but we anticipate they will within the next week and a half.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau via email.
Productivity Stats
- 41 total nests this season
- 2 active nests
- 27 hatched
- 11 failed nests
- 1 collected nest
- Up to 28 chicks on PRNS beaches
- 20 chicks fledged
Western snowy plover brood along the lower lagoon shoreline of Abbotts Lagoon. Adult female (right), rv:xx, with two fledges (the two birds on the left), av:pv and av:pg.
Photo credit: NPS Photo / Matt Lau
Adult female rs:va (red silver left leg, violet aqua right leg) with an injured right leg in March 2024. Very fine fishing line was found tightened just above her foot (if you zoom in very close, you can see it). She was eventually captured, the fishing line removed, and right leg color bands removed. Circulation in her foot was completely cut off due to the fishing line and the foot eventually went necrotic and fell off. Her name became rv:xx (red violet left leg, no color bands right leg), and she fledged two chicks at Abbotts Lagoon later in the season!
Photo credit: © Carleton Eyster, Point Blue Conservation Science
Western snowy plover fledgling av:pg (aqua violet left leg, pink green right leg) near the Abbotts Lagoon mouth.
Photo credit: NPS Photo / Matt Lau
One of the last two known active nests of the 2024 nesting season, RA05_2024, in the Abbotts Lagoon restoration area.
Photo credit: NPS Photo / Matt Lau
Trap camera photo of the same nest (RA05_2024) pictured above. If you look closely, you can see the adult female incubating the nest.
Photo credit: NPS Photo
A black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) visits the trap camera in front of the Abbotts Lagoon nest (RA05_2024).
Photo credit: NPS Photo
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