Overview
Hi Plover Lovers! We are entering the last leg of the breeding season: four active nests remain and "winter" flocks are congregating on a few stretches of beach sites. We are still expecting a couple of pairs to begin a new nest in the next week, but most of the plovers are likely done for the season. In these "winter" flocks, we have been observing both juveniles and adult plovers from breeding sites outside of Point Reyes. For example, we observed a fledgling on North Beach with color bands indicating that it hatched from Oceano Dunes Recreational Area in Southern California.
Here are updates organized by beach sites:
Kehoe (K)
There are two active nests on this site, including one new nest that was recently found this past week. Two other nests in the past week and a half have recently hatched and chicks are present on the beach. This stretch has seen an uptick in breeding activity this year. There is at least one winter flock forming on this beach, near the nests.
Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA)
There are still no known active nests in this large native dune area at this time. Plovers have not been observed in this large native dune habitat for the latter half of the season.
Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP)
There is one active nest on this site, approximately one mile north of North Beach parking lot. This nest is projected to hatch in about a week and a half. A winter flock has been observed near North Beach parking lot and we expect one to form about halfway between Abbotts Lagoon and North Beach.
North Beach (NB)
A single nest recently hatched, approximately halfway between North Beach and South Beach parking lots. We are expecting a new nest from an unbanded pair of plovers in the next week in the same area.
Limantour (L)
There is a single new nest on Limantour Spit. There is also one brood with a single chick in the same area that will be fledging in the next few weeks. We don't expect any further breeding activity on this site. Limantour typically has the park’s largest winter flock, which usually peaks sometime in December or January.
South Beach (SB)
We are continuing to monitor this site for further breeding activity, but have not found any other plovers in the past week.
If you have any questions, please feel free to let Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, know via email. Thank you so much, again, for all your help!
Current Stats
- 34 nests so far this season
- 4 active nests
- 9 hatched
- 21 failed nests
- 7–10 chicks on the beach
- 6–8 chicks fledged
Biologist Matt Lau checking eggs to estimate when they will hatch.
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