Overview
Hello Ploverites!
As you know, the snowy plover breeding season is well underway. We found our first nest of the season on April 4 on North Beach. It's been an uncharacteristically busy season since! Nest success is usually low during the first half of the season (i.e., March–May), but we have been able to find and protect nests with exclosures quickly to prevent any depredation by common ravens and other predators. Because of this, many nests have been surviving and several have hatched already!
We don't have an exact count of the number of breeding adults in our population yet, but we believe it's higher than the 2021 season. This is largely due to the higher-than-average survival of juveniles that hatched in 2021 and a significant number of these juveniles have stuck around to breed within the seashore, boosting our breeding population! Many 2021 breeding adults have also survived the winter and are being seen in the park.
Here are updates organized by beach sites:
Kehoe (K):
There was a single pair found on this stretch of beach early in the season, but likely had a failed one or two egg nest that we weren't able to find. This pair has moved south and we oddly haven't detected any breeding activity on this site for a few weeks.
Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA):
There was a significant amount of nesting activity at this site early in the season, particularly in the northern end near the lagoon mouth and lagoon shoreline. We counted upwards of five to six pairs! Activity at this site has declined since, as birds started moving southward towards North Beach. Currently, there is one brood (a plover dad and chick) in the foredunes and no active nests, though we suspect there are a few nests out there that we haven't found yet.
Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP):
This site is currently where much of the nesting activity is at. There are five active nests at the south end, closer to North Beach parking lot. There are three broods of chicks scattered along this beach, benefiting from the weekend beach closure.
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):
There are currently two active nests, one relatively close to the main access to the beach. Both nests are protected with symbolic fencing and nest exclosures. There is one active brood with a single chick that is due to fledge in the next couple weeks.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, via email.
CURRENT STATS:
- 21 total nests this season
- 7 active nest
- 8 hatched
- 6 failed nests
- 6 chicks on the beach
- 0 chicks confirmed fledged
A North Beach nest in the process of hatching. A single chick has fully hatched and has been banded.
A female incubates her nest inside a mini-exclosure, protected from any nest predators like common ravens or coyotes.
A close up of the same incubating female, who is banded aqua, violet:blue, aqua (av:ba). This female uncharacteristically sits tight on her nest while biologists check her eggs for hatch, allowing for close-up photos.
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