Overview
Hello Ploverites!
We had an exciting number of snowy plover nests that hatched in the past week—five from North Beach and one on Limantour Beach. Three of nests likely hatched on the same day, all on North Beach, which has not happened since I started managing the program in 2016. This means we have 14 plover chicks running around on Point Reyes' beaches! Please see below for photos of some of these chicks!
We are now in a period where a series of nests have hatched, freeing up females to depart the chicks to find another mate and establish a new nest. We haven't observed too many males that are free of nests/chicks and looking for mates, so we're unsure how things will unfold (i.e., there may not be enough free males for the females to mate with!)
Here are updates organized by beach sites:
Kehoe (K):
One new nest was found earlier this week, but this seems to be the only nesting activity that we’ve been able to find recently.
Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA):
There are currently no active nests within the RA, but there are a couple of active nests on the foredunes in front of the RA (technically on NP site, see below). These are projected to hatch in the next week and a half.
Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP):
There are currently five active nests, most of which can be found within a mile of the Abbotts Lagoon mouth. Most of the nests farther south, near North Beach parking lot, have hatched (five nests!). Thus there are currently five broods actively running around down there.
North Beach (NB):
There hasn't been any breeding activity between North Beach and South Beach parking lots since the start of the season.
South Beach (SB):
No breeding activity has been observed at this site this year.
Limantour (L):
One nest recently hatched and we confirmed on additional fledgling this week! No active nests are present, but we expect one or two new nests to pop up in the coming weeks.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, via email.
CURRENT STATS:
- 29 total nests this season
- 6 active nest
- 15 hatched
- 8 failed nests
- 14 chicks on the beach!
- 5 chicks confirmed fledged
A new, two-egg nest found this past week on Kehoe Beach. The female eventually laid the third egg and both adults began incubating full-time.
Newly hatched chicks on North Beach parking lot.
These three chicks were recently banded just hours after hatching.
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