Overview
Hello Ploverites!
So far this week we have found no new snowy plovers nests in the seashore, but there is still time. We continue to see multiple birds paired up and fresh scrapes but have been unable to locate any eggs on the ground yet. By the end of July, we are projecting all our active nests on the Great Beach to have hatched with our lone Limantour nest not hatching until the first week of August. It will be exciting to see (or rather try to find) the chicks of our last nests running around the beach in the very near future. Of the three broods we have active on the beaches right now, we have only observed chicks on two occasions since banding. That being said, we are regularly finding our broody males making a fuss on the outer beaches, suggesting the chicks are doing well and hiding somewhere away from perceived predators. Even with our years of experience, these little birds always find ways to evade us. We did also confirm one new fledge last week in flock of seven plovers roosting together on the outer beach.
We have begun to see winter flocks forming at Kehoe, Abbotts Lagoon, and Limantour beaches. Once birds fledge or are wrapped up with nesting for the year, snowy plovers will form flocks together that can range anywhere from three or so birds (what we are seeing now) to well over a couple hundred in some instances. Many of the birds we are seeing in flocks are unbanded, so it is likely they are coming in from various sites across the west since most of our birds are banded. In the coming weeks I suspect we will start to find banded birds that only winter in the seashore, coming in from their summer nesting sites.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Parker Kaye via email.
Productivity Stats
- 51 total nests this season
- 7 active nest
- 15 hatched
- 29 failed nests
- 8 chicks on PRNS beaches
- 9 chicks fledged
- 2 PRNS juveniles released from IBR
A juvenile snowy plover banded violet over red on the left leg, aqua over aqua on the right leg (vr:aa) at North Beach. This bird was found as an egg, abandoned and buried in the sand, along the beach south of the mouth of Abbotts Lagoon. This bird was hatched, and captive reared at International Bird Rescue (IBR) in Fairfield and released on June 30, 2025, at North Beach along with its broodmate and three juveniles from Montezuma Wetlands.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
A small flock of snowy plovers in the Abbotts Lagoon restoration area, hiding among native dune plants. While there are only three snowy plovers in this photo, this flock loosely contained eight birds.
Photo credit: Parker Kaye / PRNSA
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