Overview
Hello again Ploverites! We have experienced quite a successful week, despite the low reproductive success this season and the slight drop in breeding population size. Three more chicks have fledged, increasing our season tally to five fledged chicks so far; these three chicks hatched south of North Beach parking lot. We had two nests hatch: one on Limantour Spit and another adjacent to North Beach parking lot. The latter nest successfully survived thirty-one days to hatch, next to a site frequented by heavy visitor traffic, because of the protections and monitoring that Plover Docents have provided over the past month.
We were unable to capture the hatchlings on South Beach that surprised us last week (see the June 24 weekly update). These hatchlings from an unknown nest, are likely two-weeks old and are very mobile, making it difficult to capture and put bands on them. But we will continue to closely and frequently monitor this brood until they fledge.
Here are updates organized by beach sites:
Kehoe (K)
There are still two active, exclosed nests at the north end of Kehoe Beach. They are projected to hatch at the end of next week.
Abbotts Lagoon Restoration Area (RA)
There are no known active nests in this large native dune area at this time. Plovers have not been observed in this large native dune habitat for at least a month now, likely due to the constant presence of common ravens.
Abbotts Lagoon to North Beach parking lot (NP)
There is one active nest on this site, approximately one mile north of North Beach parking lot. This site typically was our most active site, but has seen a decline in breeding activity, as some of the plovers have moved south to North Beach (NB) and South Beach (SB). There are two new chicks in one brood that hatched next to the North Beach parking lot.
North Beach (NB)
There is a single nest about halfway between North Beach and South Beach parking lot, but won't hatch for another few weeks. We will continue to monitor this site for more breeding activity.
Limantour (L)
Plover activity on Limantour Beach remains low compared to the past few years. There is currently one active nest on Limantour Spit. There is currently no breeding activity between the parking lots. There is a single brood of three new chicks in the same area as the active nest.
South Beach (SB)
There is a surprise brood of chicks about two-weeks old on this site, which hatched from a previously unknown nest. This is the brood that we attempted to capture and band, without success.
If you have any questions, please feel free to let Matt Lau, the park's Snowy Plover Ecologist, know via email. Thank you so much, again, for all your help!
Current Stats
- 31 nests so far this season
- 5 active nests
- 6 hatched
- 20 failed nests
- 7 chicks on the beach
- 5 chicks fledged
Two newly hatched chicks from the North Beach parking lot nest, camouflaged among pebbles and morning glory.
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