Hello Ploverites! Western snowy plover productivity is improving week by week, as the last several weeks of the breeding season are proving to be successful for both nests and chicks. We still have three active nests in the park, which could potentially produce nine more fledglings, on top of the ten chicks that are currently being raised on Kehoe, North Beach, Abbotts Lagoon, and Limantour Beach. If everything goes perfectly and we observe 100% chick survival, we could end the season with a total of 29 fledglings!
Here are updates organized by beach sites:
Kehoe (K):
One active nest remains on this site, along with a brood that will be fledging in a couple weeks.
Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA):
One nest remains active within the expansive restoration area. This area has seen an uptick in nesting activity this season, compared to the past couple years.
Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP):
Most of the current breeding activity on this site is located up north by the Abbotts Lagoon mouth and the adjacent restoration area. A couple active nests remain there, along with two broods. These two broods are projected to fledge next week. A third brood can be found near North Beach parking lot, which is also projected to fledge next week. Scattered winter flocks can be found near North Beach parking lot, including several recent fledglings.
North Beach (NB):
There hasn't been any breeding activity between North Beach and South Beach parking lots in the past couple months nor any signs of winter flocks.
South Beach (SB):
No breeding activity has been observed at this site this year.
Limantour (L):
One nest is due to hatch today (August 6) or tomorrow! We expect all three eggs to hatch and it'll be another 28 days until these hatchlings are old enough to fledge (aka, be fully independent of the dad and be able to fly).
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, via email.
CURRENT STATS:
- 32 total nests this season
- 3 active nest
- 13 hatched
- 16 failed nests
- 9–12 chicks on the beach
- 10 chicks confirmed fledged
This nest eluded biologists for a week before we were able to find it. As you can tell, it is well camouflaged amongst the coarse sand.
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