Overview
Hello Ploverites!
On Sunday, biologists from Point Blue Conservation Science picked up our third and final captive reared snowy plover from International Bird Rescue (IBR) and released it at North Beach, along with two other juveniles originating from the Montezuma Wetlands in the delta. Our bird was brought to IBR after one of three eggs was found damaged in a nest bowl and thought to no longer be viable. Once our team got the damaged egg out of wind, we were able to hear faint tapping and realized there was still a chance for the chick to hatch out of the egg. Due to the damage to the egg, the shell and inner membrane were broken. IBR was able to introduce a small amount of moisture to the chick to keep it from drying out, and the egg hatched about 48 hours after being in IBR's care (a day later than the other two eggs from the nest that hatched out on the beach). We're grateful to work with an organization that cares for these little birds as much as we do!
During surveys this week, our team confirmed two more chicks to have fledged, bringing our season total up to 14 fledglings. We also located at least ten chicks foraging out and about on our beaches, all slated to fledge by or on Labor Day. Along with our local breeding activity, we are continuing to see our winter flocks grow with 80 or so birds out at Limantour Beach and around 70 birds just to the north of Abbotts Lagoon. We are seeing new band combinations in these flocks that we have not seen all season, so many of these birds are coming from various spots across the west coast. We hope to soon find our recently fledged birds joining these groups to help them make it through their first winter!
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Parker Kaye via email.
Productivity Stats
- 55 total nests this season
- 0 active nests
- 26 hatched
- 29 failed nests
- 13 maximum chicks on PRNS beaches
- 14 chicks fledged
- 3 PRNS juveniles released from IBR
Photos
A juvenile snowy plover banded red over violet on the left leg and green over yellow on the right leg (rv:gy) at Abbotts Lagoon. This bird is one of two fledglings from a nest at Kehoe Beach, our only nest from that site known to fledge chicks this season.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
A juvenile snowy plover with black over aqua bands on the left leg and blue over orange on the right leg (Ka:bo) at Abbotts Lagoon. The black band is denoted by a capital “K” because it is placed above the bird’s tibiotarsal joint. This bird hatched at Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in Hayward, CA, and this sighting was the first of this bird, confirming it as new fledge.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
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