Overview
Hello Ploverites!
The snowy plover nesting season in Point Reyes has been a whirlwind! The first nest of the season popped up on April 3 at Limantour Beach and we started detecting nesting at all the usual sites soon after. As of Friday May 24, National Park Service and Point Blue Conservation Science biologists have found 19 total nests: four on Limantour Spit, one on Kehoe Beach, one in the Abbotts Lagoon restoration area, 11 between Abbotts Lagoon and North Beach, and two between North Beach and South Beach parking lots. The first half of the season generally sees lower nest and chick survival, but, remarkably, we have observed great success! Eleven of the 19 nests have hatched, many in the past week and a half. We estimate there are around 24 chicks running around on Point Reyes beaches! Four of these chicks are due to fledge in the next week.
Our initial estimates of the breeding adult population appear to be on par with the 2023 breeding season of 48 individuals: we estimate between 40 and 48 plovers are nesting in the seashore. We have observed a large number of unbanded plovers (n = 11) nesting in the park this year, suggesting immigration into our breeding population (most of our breeding plovers are banded, so we generally know who is who). At least seven of the 20 fledglings from 2023 have observed in the seashore since March; two of these have been confirmed nesting.
We are sad to say that several of our long-term nesting plovers disappeared over the winter, including our beloved King of Limantour (av:ww). Sadly, we lost the other Royal earlier in the nesting season as well: we found the Queen (av:bg) on a nest in April, but soon after, she disappeared and the nest was consequently abandoned. But fear not! A new royal couple has been anointed! oa:br male has taken the king’s helm and is paired with av:bg’s daughter, va:aa (aqua, violet on the left leg, aqua, aqua on the right leg). Can you guess oa:br’s colors?.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau via email.
CURRENT STATS:
- 19 total nests this season
- 5 active nest
- 11 hatched
- 3 failed nests
- 24 chicks on the beach
- 0 chicks confirmed fledged
Overhead view of a snowy plover scrape with plover foot prints around it at North Beach.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
A three-egg snowy plover nest hidden among native ragweed at North Beach.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
An unbanded female (background) and a banded female (foreground) hide among Velella velella at Kehoe Beach.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
Three newly hatched chicks rest side by side at North Beach. Their egg tooths are visible, the white tips of their bills. This hardened tip is an adaptive trait that derived from reptilian ancestors and helps chicks break out of the egg. It falls off soon after hatching.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
A snowy plover nest tucked into the base of an arched stick at Abbotts Lagoon.
Photo credit: NPS/Matt Lau
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