Overview
Hello Ploverites!
We have our first confirmed snowy plover fledgling of the nesting season! On June 8, biologists observed a single fledged chick still being tended to by an adult male snowy plover midway between the Abbotts Lagoon mouth and North Beach parking lot. This chick was one of two that hatched from within the Lagoon restoration area on May 12.
Chick survival appears to be relatively low so far this season. Of the 11 nests that have hatched so far, 28 chicks have hatched. Only one of these have fledged and we are fairly confident only nine chicks are still running around on beaches, though we are often surprised to find more! Assuming all nine of those chicks survive to fledge, that is 10 out of 28 chicks (a 35.7% fledge rate). We're crossing our fingers they all survive to fledge age! We're about halfway through the season and we expect a new round of nests to pop up—so many more hatchlings to come!
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau via email.
CURRENT STATS:
- 30 total nests this season
- 11 active nest
- 11 hatched
- 8 failed nests
- 9–12 chicks on PRNS beaches
- 1 chicks fledged!
Two week old snowy plover chick, Limantour Beach. June 2023.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
Two newly hatched snowy plover chicks were found hiding underneath the side of beach driftwood. North Beach, 2023.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
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